Meningitis due to Fusobacterium necrophorum subspecies necrophorum. Case report and review of the literature.

This paper reports a case of fatal meningitis caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. necrophorum in a previously healthy five-year-old child. The organism was isolated in pure culture from the cerebrospinal fluid and from intracranial pus obtained at autopsy. The role of F. necrophorum in the development of meningitis is reaffirmed and its isolation and identification are discussed. The clinical presentation of the present case resembles the previously published reports and highlights the poor prognosis in spite of appropriate antibiotic treatment.