Veillonella parvula meningitis: case report and review of Veillonella infections

Abstract

Veillonella parvula is a small, nonfermentative anaerobic gram-negative coccus that is part of the normal flora of the mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and vagina in humans. When isolated from clinical specimens, V. parvula is often regarded as a contaminant or commensal, but it has been implicated as a pathogen in infections of the sinuses, lungs, heart, bone, and central nervous system. Meningitis, however, is extremely rare; to our knowledge, only 2 cases have been previously described in the literature. We report a case of V. parvula meningitis and review the literature on Veillonella infections.