Editing Viral meningitis (section)

==Recent research==

It has been proposed that viral meningitis might lead to inflammatory injury of the vertebral [[artery wall]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pan|first=Xudong|title=Vertebral artery dissection associated with viral meningitis|journal=BMC Neurology|year=2012|volume=12|pages=79|doi=10.1186/1471-2377-12-79|pmid=22909191|pmc=3466159 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Meningitis Research Foundation is conducting a study to see if new [[genomic]] techniques can improve the speed, accuracy and cost of diagnosing meningitis in children in the UK. The research team will develop a new method to be used for the diagnosis of meningitis, analysing the genetic material of [[microorganisms]] found in [[Cerebrospinal fluid|CSF]] (cerebrospinal fluid). The new method will first be developed using CSF samples where the microorganism is known, but then will be applied to CSF samples where the microorganism is unknown (estimated at around 40%) to try and identify a cause.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.meningitis.org/research-projects/genomic-techniques-identify-causes-of-meningitis|title=Using new genomic techniques to identify the causes of meningitis in UK children {{!}} Meningitis Research Foundation|website=www.meningitis.org|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref> There is also research investigating whether [[High throughput sequencing|high-throughput sequencing]], wherein the investigator does not need to compare DNA results with known genomic sequences, could be used in specifically diagnosing unknown causes of viral meningitis.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zanella MC, Lenggenhager L, Schrenzel J, Cordey S, Kaiser L | title = High-throughput sequencing for the aetiologic identification of viral encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, and meningitis. A narrative review and clinical appraisal | language = en | journal = Clinical Microbiology and Infection | volume = 25 | issue = 4 | pages = 422–430 | date = April 2019 | pmid = 30641229 | doi = 10.1016/j.cmi.2018.12.022 | url = https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(18)30812-7/abstract | doi-access = free | pmc = 7129948 }}</ref>

While there is some emerging evidence that bacterial meningitis may have a negative impact on cognitive function, there is no such evidence for viral meningitis.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Christie D, Rashid H, El-Bashir H, Sweeney F, Shore T, Booy R, Viner RM | title = Impact of meningitis on intelligence and development: A systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 12 | issue = 8 | pages = e0175024 | date = 2017 | pmid = 28837564 | pmc = 5570486 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0175024 | bibcode = 2017PLoSO..1275024C | doi-access = free }}</ref>