Letters
Skin scraping is a useful investigation in meningococcal disease
BMJ 1997; 314 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.314.7083.831b (Published 15 March 1997) Cite this as: BMJ 1997;314:831
- M R H Taylor, Senior lecturer, department of paediatricsa,
- C T Keane, Associate professor, department of clinical microbiologya,
- M Periappuram, Registrar in paediatricsb
- a Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland
- b John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU
Editor-F Andrew I Riordan and colleagues report the diagnosis and treatment of early meningococcal disease in children in Liverpool.1 It is worth emphasising another aspect of these rashes–namely, that meningococci that are present in the rash may be identified by taking skin scrapings. The lesion is scraped with the point of a sterile needle until blood just starts to appear. The blood is then blotted on to microscope slides, allowed to dry, and examined …
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