Flavobacterium meningosepticum infection in a neonatal ward.

An outbreak of infections due to Flavobacterium meningosepticum type C in a neonatal intensive care unit is described. During a period of two weeks, two infants developed meningitis and a third was colonized in the respiratory tract and had transient bacteremia. The two meningitis patients were treated with clindamycin, rifampicin and cefotaxime systemically, plus rifampicin intraventricularly. Bacteriological eradication was achieved within 48 h, and both infants recovered from the meningitis without apparent neurological sequelae; however, one infant died two months later of unrelated causes. Environmental surveillance cultures failed to demonstrate a reservoir for the epidemic strain, but other Flavobacterium strains were recovered. Two clinically healthy infants were found to be colonized in the nasopharynx with strains that were extremely difficult to differentiate phenotypically from the epidemic strain. Extensive characterization of strains is necessary in order to differentiate between strains and subsequently to determine a certain source of infection.