Barriers to diagnosis and management of CNS infections in Indonesia

Little is known about the management and outcome of CNS infections in Indonesia (population: approximately 261 million), and the burden of CNS infections is increasing as result of a rapidly growing HIV epidemic. Indeed, in a recent study in Jakarta,1 54% of patients with a CNS infection were HIV-infected, vs 25% in a similar study conducted in Bandung, the second largest city on Java.2 Establishing the etiology of CNS infections is important for clinical management and outcome, but anecdotal evidence suggests that there are major gaps in clinical management, including a failure to recognize CNS infections, perform appropriate diagnostics, or initiate necessary drug treatment. In this study, we address some of these barriers by interviewing a group of Indonesian neurologists.