title: Meningitis in a Chinese adult patient caused by Mycoplasma hominis: a rare infection and literature review.
abstract: Mycoplasma hominis, a well known cause of neonatal infection, has been reported as a pathogen in urogenital infections in adults; however, central nervous system (CNS) infections are rare. We report here the first case of M. hominis meningitis in China, post neurosurgical treatment for an intracerebral haemorrhage in a 71-year-old male.
  
  
  
  We describe a 71-year-old man who developed M. hominis meningitis after neurosurgical treatment and was successfully treated with combined azithromycin and minocycline therapy of 2 weeks duration, despite delayed treatment because the Gram stain of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) yielded no visible organisms. The diagnosis required 16S rDNA sequencing analysis of the cultured isolate from CSF. Literature review of M. hominis CNS infections yielded 19 cases (13 instances of brain abscess, 3 of meningitis, 1 spinal cord abscess and 1 subdural empyema each). Delay in diagnosis and initial treatment failure was evident in all cases. With appropriate microbiological testing, antibiotic therapy (ranging from 5 days to 12 weeks) and often, multiple surgical interventions, almost all the patients improved immediately.
  
  
  
  Both our patient findings and the literature review, highlighted the pathogenic potential of M. hominis together with the challenges prompted by rare infectious diseases in particular for developing countries laboratories with limited diagnostic resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, People's Republic of China.|Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Menglan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1241-6153
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Pathology West, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney Darcy Road, Westmead, New South Wales, 2145, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Intensive Care Unit, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Fu Xing Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fengdan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Pathology West, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney Darcy Road, Westmead, New South Wales, 2145, Australia.
authors.forename: Fanrong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, People's Republic of China. xycpumch@139.com.
authors.forename: Yingchun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044466:Asian People; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D019535:Mycoplasma hominis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Case report; Hospital acquired pneumonia; Meningitis; Mycoplasma hominis; Post-operative infection