Persons with confirmed<unk>  infection should be hospitalized immediately for treatment with antibiotics. Because meningococcal disease can disseminate very rapidly, a single dose of intramuscular antibiotic is often given at the earliest possible opportunity, even before hospitalization, if disease symptoms look suspicious enough. Third-generation cephalosporin antibiotics (i.e. cefotaxime, ceftriaxone) should be used to treat a suspected or culture-proven meningococcal infection before antibiotic susceptibility results are available. Clinical practice guidelines endorse empirical treatment in the event a lumbar puncture to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for laboratory testing cannot first be performed. Antibiotic treatment may affect the results of microbiology tests, but a diagnosis may be made on the basis of blood-cultures and clinical examination.
Neisseria meningitidis
Bordetella pertussis
Haemophilus influenzae
Rhodococcus equi
Kingella kingae
Streptococcus bovis
Streptococcus pyogenes
Neisseria flavescens