title: Brucellar meningitis in an infant--evidence for human breast milk transmission.
abstract: Brucellar meningitis is relatively uncommon, especially in children younger than 1 year. We present another case of meningitis due to Brucella melitensis biotype 1 in a 11-month-old infant transmitted by breast milk. This is the first report of successful isolation of B. melitensis from the breast milk in the literature. Babies of infected nursing mother should be monitored closely for evidence of infection since the breast milk is the source of transmission of brucellosis. It would be prudent to abstain from breast feeding until infection of nursing mother has been eradicated. One should be aware of this in endemic areas.
authors.affiliation: Dr Bidari's Ashwini Institute of Child Health and Research Centre, Bijapur 586103, Karnataka, India. <nitintikare@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Nitin V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Tikare
authors.forename: Basappa G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Mantur
authors.forename: Laxman H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Bidari
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D017347:Brucella melitensis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000635:transmission*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial