Meningitis caused by Oerskovia xanthineolytica

In summary, we describe a case of central nervous system infection with O. xanthineolytica in which the infecting microbe probably was engrafted on a ventricular shunt. The bacteria caused a smoldering meningitis that did not respond to penicillin and rifampin despite in vitro sensitivity, presumably because of inadequate cerebrospinal fluid penetration of the penicillin and the recognized difficulty of eradicating bacteria from contaminated shunts. Removal of the shunt and continued treatment with penicillin and rifampin resulted in cure.