Enterococcal meningitis caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Enterococcus casseliflavus</Emphasis>. First case report

Background  

Enterococcal meningitis is an uncommon disease usually caused by Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium and is associated with a high mortality rate. Enterococcus casseliflavus has been implicated in a wide variety of infections in humans, but never in meningitis.     

Adjuvant glycerol is not beneficial in experimental pneumococcal meningitis

Background  

Bacterial meningitis in children causes high rates of mortality and morbidity. In a recent clinical trial, oral glycerol significantly reduced severe neurological sequelae in paediatric meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b, and a tendency towards a benefit of adjunctive glycerol was seen in pneumococcal meningitis.     

The dynamics of nasopharyngeal <Emphasis Type="Italic">streptococcus</Emphasis> pneumoniae carriage among rural Gambian mother-infant pairs

Background  

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important cause of community acquired pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis and otitis media globally and has been incriminated as a major cause of serious childhood bacterial infections in The Gambia. Better understanding of the dynamics of transmission and carriage will inform control strategies.     

Haematogenous Staphylococcus aureus meningitis. A 10-year nationwide study of 96 consecutive cases

Background  

Haematogenous Staphylococcus aureus meningitis is rare but associated with high mortality. Knowledge about the disease is still limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate demographic and clinical prognostic features of bacteraemic S. aureus meningitis.     

Genotyping of Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococci) isolated from vaginal and rectal swabs of women at 35-37 weeks of pregnancy

Background  

Group B streptococci (GBS), or Streptococcus agalactiae, are the leading bacterial cause of meningitis and bacterial sepsis in newborns. Here we compared different culture media for GBS detection and we compared the occurrence of different genotypes and serotypes of GBS isolates from the vagina and rectum.     

High carriage rate of high-level penicillin-resistant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptococcus pneumoniae</Emphasis>in a Taiwan kindergarten associated with a case of pneumococcal meningitis

Background  

The Taiwan^19F-14 Streptococcus pneumoniae clone and its variants are being found with increasing frequency in the Asia-Pacific region. A 5-year old child with S. pneumoniae meningitis caused by a high-level penicillin resistant strain (MIC = 4 μg/ml) was admitted to a hospital in southern Taiwan. We carried out a study to determine the potential source of this strain.     

Clinical features,acute complications,and outcome of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmonella</Emphasis> meningitis in children under one year of age in Taiwan

Background  

Salmonella meningitis remains a threat to children below two years of age in both developing and developed countries. However, information on such infections has not been well characterized. We analyzed data related to twelve years of experience in order to clarify the comprehensive features of Salmonella meningitis in our patients, including admission characteristics, acute complications, and long-term outcome.     

Adjuvant TACE inhibitor treatment improves the outcome of TLR2<Superscript>-/-</Superscript>mice with experimental pneumococcal meningitis

Background  

Streptococcus (S.) pneumoniae meningitis has a high lethality despite antibiotic treatment. Inflammation is a major pathogenetic factor, which is unresponsive to antibiotics. Therefore adjunctive therapies with antiinflammatory compounds have been developed. TNF484 is a TNF-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) inhibitor and has been found efficacious in experimental meningitis. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) contributes to host response in pneumococcal meningitis by enhancing bacterial clearing and downmodulating inflammation. In this study, TNF484 was applied in mice, which lacked TLR2 and exhibited a strong meningeal inflammation.     

Oral infection of mice with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmonella enterica</Emphasis>serovar Typhimurium causes meningitis and infection of the brain

Background  

Salmonella meningitis is a rare and serious infection of the central nervous system following acute Salmonella enterica sepsis. For this pathogen, no appropriate model has been reported in which to examine infection kinetics and natural dissemination to the brain.     

Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a neonatal intensive care unit: molecular epidemiology and infection control measures

Background  

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a non-fermentative, gram-negative rod, is responsible for a wide variety of clinical syndromes in NICU patients, including sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, diarrhea, conjunctivitis and skin infections. An increased number of infections and colonisations by P. aeruginosa has been observed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of our university hospital between 2005 and 2007.     

Catheter-related bacteremia due to Kocuria rosea in a patient undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

Background  

Micrococcus species may cause intracranial abscesses, meningitis, pneumonia, and septic arthritis in immunosuppressed or immunocompetent hosts. In addition, strains identified as Micrococcus spp. have been reported recently in infections associated with indwelling intravenous lines, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis fluids, ventricular shunts and prosthetic valves.     

Cryptococcosis mimicking cutaneous cellulitis in a patient suffering from rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

Background  

Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast and the most frequent cryptococcal species found in humans. Cryptococcosis is considered an opportunistic infection as it affects mainly immunosuppressed individuals. In humans, C. neoformans causes three types of infections: pulmonary cryptococcosis, cryptococcal meningitis and wound or cutaneous cryptococcosis.     

Microsatellite typing and susceptibilities of serial <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptococcus neoformans</Emphasis>isolates from Cuban patients with recurrent cryptococcal meningitis

Background  

Cryptococcus neoformans is commonly associated with meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised patients and occasionally in apparently healthy individuals. Recurrence of infection after initial treatment is not uncommon. We studied C. neoformans isolates from 7 Cuban patients with recurrent cryptococcal meningitis. Antifungal susceptibility and genotyping with microsatellite molecular typing were carried out.     

Simulated effect of pneumococcal vaccination in the Netherlands on existing rules constructed in a non-vaccinated cohort predicting sequelae after bacterial meningitis

Background  

Previously two prediction rules identifying children at risk of hearing loss and academic or behavioral limitations after bacterial meningitis were developed. Streptococcus pneumoniae as causative pathogen was an important risk factor in both. Since 2006 Dutch children receive seven-valent conjugate vaccination against S. pneumoniae. The presumed effect of vaccination was simulated by excluding all children infected by S. pneumoniae with the serotypes included in the vaccine, from both previous collected cohorts (between 1990-1995).     

Attenuated cerebrospinal fluid leukocyte count and sepsis in adults with pneumococcal meningitis: a prospective cohort study

Background  

A low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) white-blood cell count (WBC) has been identified as an independent risk factor for adverse outcome in adults with bacterial meningitis. Whereas a low CSF WBC indicates the presence of sepsis with early meningitis in patients with meningococcal infections, the relation between CSF WBC and outcome in patients with pneumococcal meningitis is not understood.     

Hyperglycemia in bacterial meningitis: a prospective cohort study

Background  

Hyperglycemia has been associated with unfavorable outcome in several disorders, but few data are available in bacterial meningitis. We assessed the incidence and significance of hyperglycemia in adults with bacterial meningitis.     

Incidence of bacterial meningitis (2001–2005) in Lazio, Italy: the results of a integrated surveillance system

Background  

Monitoring the incidence of bacterial meningitis is important to plan and evaluate preventive polices. The study's aim was to estimate the incidence of bacterial meningitis by aetiological agent in the period 2001–2005, in Lazio Italy (5.3 mln inhabitants).     

The changing epidemiology of pediatric aseptic meningitis in Daejeon,Korea from 1987 to 2003

Background  

Aseptic meningitis is a relatively frequent childhood disease and virologic data suggest that enteroviruses are the commonest etiologic agents. We evaluated the epidemiologic characteristics of aseptic meningitis in Daejeon, South Korea from 1987 to 2003.     

An updated systematic review of HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis treatment strategies

Background

The purpose of this systematic review is to provide updated evidence on the preferred induction therapy for the treatment of HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis considering the most recent evidence available in order to inform the need for updates to WHO guidelines.

Methods

We searched Medline via PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and clinicaltrials.gov for published or completed randomized clinical trials that evaluated induction treatment of first episode HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis from 9 July 2018 (date of last search) to 1 September 2021.

Results

One randomized clinical trial of 844 people with HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis met the inclusion criteria. Participants were randomized to: (1) amphotericin deoxycholate for 7 days, with flucytosine and fluconazole (control); or (2) a single dose of liposomal amphotericin 10 mg/kg with flucytosine and fluconazole (intervention). In the intention-to-treat analysis, 10-week mortality was 24.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 20.7–29.3%] in the single-dose liposomal amphotericin group compared with 28.7% (95% CI: 24.4–33.4%) in the control group. The absolute difference in 10-week mortality was −3.9% with an upper one-sided 95% CI of 1.2%, within the 10% pre-specified non-inferiority margin. Fewer participants had grade 3 and 4 adverse events in the intervention arm compared with the control arm (50.0% vs. 62.3%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

In the single study included in this systematic review, single high-dose liposomal amphotericin B with flucytosine and fluconazole was non-inferior to the WHO-recommended standard of care induction therapy for HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis, with significantly fewer adverse events.     

African meningitis belt pneumococcal disease epidemiology indicates a need for an effective serotype 1 containing vaccine,including for older children and adults

Background  

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine strategies in GAVI-eligible countries are focusing on infant immunization but this strategy may not be optimal in all settings. We aimed to collect all available population based data on pneumococcal meningitis throughout life in the African meningitis belt and then to model overall meningitis risk to help inform vaccine policy.