Listeria monocytogenes meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent, previously healthy 20-month old female child.

Invasive listeriosis predominantly affects pregnant women, neonates, elderly and people with a compromised immune function. For more than 80 years since the discovery of Listeria in 1924, only a few reports of invasive listeriosis in humans have emerged from India, with all of them in patients having an underlying predisposition. We, however, report Listeria monocytogenes meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent, previously healthy, 20-month-old female child with no underlying predisposition. The patient showed poor response to empirical treatment with vancomycin and ceftriaxone but improved dramatically after substitution with ampicillin and amikacin. She had a complete recovery other than left lateral rectus palsy that persisted.