Difficulty: Medium
Average Score: 77%
Simulated
Passage / Scenario
A lumbar puncture is done on an infant suspected to have meningitis.If the infant has bacterial meningitis, the nurse would expect the cerebral spinal fluid to show what result?
Correct answer
C
Rationale
The correct answer is C: An elevated white blood cell count. In bacterial meningitis, the body's immune response leads to an increase in white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid as they fight the infection. Elevated red blood cell count (choice A) is not typical in bacterial meningitis. A decreased white cell count (choice B) would indicate immunodeficiency, not bacterial meningitis. Normal glucose (choice D) is not specific to bacterial meningitis.