Isolation, culture, and identification of meningococci from clinical specimens.

Humans are the only natural reservoir for meningococci. The appropriate specimens that should be taken for isolation of meningococci are dependent on the clinical question. The most appropriate specimen and/or laboratory techniques for microbiological diagnosis in an acutely sick patient with suspected invasive disease like meningitis/septicemia (1) may be quite different from those required for diagnosis of the cause of a local infection in eye, upper respiratory tract, lower respiratory tract, or urogenital tract, or for the study of the carrier state of healthy persons.