Kay Peterson, a 50-year-old woman began to suffer flu-like symptoms, including fever, aching joints, sore throat, and a headache. Feeling miserable but not terribly concerned, she took some ibuprofen and went to bed. By the following morning, she began to feel increasingly ill, and was unstable on her feet, confused, and complaining of light-headedness. Realizing this was more than just the flu, her husband rushed her immediately to the nearest emergency room. An initial examination showed that most of her vital signs were normal. She also presented with a rapid pulse and respirations, an inflamed throat, and stiff neck. A chest X-ray revealed no sign of pneumonia and blood test indicated an elevated white blood cell count. To rule out a possible brain infection a puncture of the spinal canal was performed. As it turned out, the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) appeared normal, microscopically and macroscopically. But within an hour, the patient began to drift in and out of consciousness and was extremely lethargic. Dark brown spots began appearing on her legs. Her condition appeared to be failing rapidly and she was immediately taken to intensive care where she was placed on intravenous antibiotics. Because her symptoms pointed to a possible infection of the central nervous system, a second spinal tap was performed. This time, the CSF sample was cloudy, and a Gram stain and cultures were started right away. Microscopic examination of the sample yielded tiny pairs of red diplococci, leading to a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis as opposed to other common causative agents. The identity of this agent can be confirmed by a series of biochemical or immunological tests, but the microscopic analysis alone was sufficient to indicate the seriousness of the illness and the need for aggressive antibiotic therapy. Bacterial meningitis can cause death in 5–10% of people in only a few hours.