Abstract: OBJECTIVE To explore the clinical value of procalcitonin (PCT) in differentiating bacterial meningitis from viral meningitis so as to provide guidance for clinical diagnosis. METHODS A total of 90 patients with acute meningitis who were treated in the hospital from Dec 2011 to Jan 2016 were enrolled in the study and divided into the bacterial meningitis group with 42 cases and the viral meningitis group with 48 cases according to the results of bacterial culture and cerebrospinal fluid cytological examination.The levels of PCT and peripheral blood C-reactive protein as well as white blood cell counts were determined before the admission and after the treatment. RESULTS The levels of serum PCT and cerebrospinal fluid PCT of the bacterial meningitis group were significantly higher than those of the viral meningitis group before the treatment(P＜0.05).The level of serum PCT of the patients with bacterial meningitis was significantly lower after the antibiotic therapy than before the treatment(P＜0.05). CONCLUSION The detection of PCT may facilitate the early identification of pathogens isolated from the patients with bacterial meningitis or viral meningitis and judge the curative effect on the bacterial meningitis; it is worthy to be promoted in the hospital.