title: Nosocomial outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni meningitis in newborn infants.
abstract: In a nosocomial outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni infection 11 newborn infants (7 female, 4 male) had meningitis. The outbreak was caused by a single strain of C jejuni, as demonstrated by biotyping (biotype I), serotyping (LAU 7/PEN 18 on heat-stable antigens, a new serotype on heat-labile antigens), and the identical susceptibility pattern and outer-membrane-protein profile on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Specific antibodies against the outbreak strain (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot) developed in all the babies. They were treated with gentamicin and ampicillin. All but one baby, who had a moderately dilated left lateral ventricle after the meningitis, recovered well. The source of infection could not be clearly determined. Thus, C jejuni can cause serious nosocomial infection; it should be considered as a possible agent of meningitis of unknown origin, particularly in newborn infants and other compromised hosts.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Henocque
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kremp
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rocque
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boury
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alanio
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vlaes
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hemelhof
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van den Borre
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Macart
mesh_terms: D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D001530:Belgium; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002168:Campylobacter fetus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D005839:Gentamicins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D000667:Ampicillin