VALUE OF C REACTIVE PROTEIN DETERMINATION IN BACTERIAL MENINGITIS By Nabil A. Khattab MD, Yehia Saddik MD, Alaa Ibrahim MD, Mohammed Salem MD, Atif Ibrahim MD, Ashraf K. Nassar MD and Mikhael N. Mikhael**MD From Internal Medicine and Tropical Medicine Departments, Benha ** Faculty of Medicine and Microbiology Department , Cairo Faculty of Medicine ABSTRACT Fourty cases comprised the material of this study. Twenty of them were normal control cases and 20 patients with bacterial meningitis in a trial to investigate the value Of C reactive protein (CRP) in serum and CSF as a diagnostic and progostic index in such disease. Before therapy CRP in serum and CSF was significantly high, seven days from the start of therapy CRP dropped sigificantly in 95% of cases, only one patient (5%) who developed facial nerve palsy showed elevated CRP. Therefore early determination of CRP in serum and CSF may be a sensitive and rapid indicator of bacterial meningitis and also may have a prognostic value as it decreases markedly when there is recovery.