Enteroviruses (EVs) are a major cause of
aseptic meningitis, and
RNA detection using molecular assay is the gold standard diagnostic test. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an EV positive diagnosis on the clinical management of patients admitted for
meningitis over the course of two observational study periods (2005 and 2008-09) in the same clinical departments. We further investigated in multivariate analysis various factors possibly associated with hospital
length of stay (LOS) in all age groups (infants, children, and adults). The results showed an overall improvement in the management of patients (nā=ā142) between the study periods, resulting in a significantly shorter hospital LOS for adults and children, and a shorter duration of
antibiotic use for adults and infants. In multivariate analysis, we observed that the time from molecular test results to discharge of patients and the median duration of
antibiotic treatment were associated with an increase in LOS in all age groups. In addition, among adults, the turnaround time of the molecular assay was significantly correlated with LOS. The use of CT scan in children and hospital admission outside the peak of EV prevalence in infants tended to increase LOS. In conclusion, the shorter
length of stay of patients with
meningitis in this study was due to various factors including the rapidity of the EV molecular test (particularly in adults), greater physician responsiveness after a positive result (in adults and children), and greater experience on the part of physicians in handling EV
meningitis, as evidenced by the shorter duration of
antibiotic use in adults and infants.