Meningitis B in child with ventriculoperitoneal shunt

Abstract

Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency, and the diagnosis should be immediate. The mortality rate, if it is not properly treated, is close to 100%. Even with optimal treatment, there is great morbidity and neurological sequelae. The responsible organisms depend on different risk factors, including the underlying factors of the host; The most common organisms in the pediatric population are pneumococcus and meningococcus. The incidence has been reduced due to the vaccination campaigns against these causal microorganisms.

We present here a complex clinical case of a two year old child with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt with meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis B; the special interest is not only for the causative microorganism, but for the time of therapy, longer than usual (2 weeks vs 1) and the antibiotic therapy used.

It is proposed the possibility of associating antibiotics that prevent and treat the formation of biofilms in specific cases such as the presence of shunt devices; and the length of therapy time in certain cases.