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. 2012 Mar;8(1):79-82.
doi: 10.3988/jcn.2012.8.1.79. Epub 2012 Mar 31.

Meningitis caused by Streptococcus suis: case report and review of the literature

Seong-Min Choi  1 , Bang-Hoon Cho, Kang-Ho Choi, Tai-Seung Nam, Joon-Tae Kim, Man-Seok Park, Byeong C Kim, Myeong-Kyu Kim, Ki-Hyun Cho
Affiliations

Meningitis caused by Streptococcus suis: case report and review of the literature

Seong-Min Choi et al. J Clin Neurol. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Human infection with Streptococcus suis (S. suis), a zoonotic pathogen, has been reported mainly in pig-rearing and pork-consuming countries. Meningitis is the most-common clinical manifestation and is often associated with deafness and vestibular dysfunction.

Case report: A 57-year-old man was referred to the hospital with headaches, fevers, chills, and hearing impairment. Meningitis was confirmed and S. suis was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid. Spondylodiscitis occurred after 2 weeks of antibiotic treatment, and was successfully treated with a prolonged course of antibiotics for another 4 weeks. His hearing loss was irreversible despite the improvement of other symptoms.

Conclusions: We report the first human case of S. suis infection in Korea. In patients presenting with meningitis, S. suis should be considered if the characteristic features of prominent and early hearing loss are present.

Keywords: Streptococcus suis; hearing impairment; meningitis; spondylodiscitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Brain MRI of the patient. Axial T1-weighted (A) and gadolinium-enhanced (B) images showing no abnormalities in the inner ear and brain parenchyma.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Lumbar spine MRI of the patient. Sagittal T1-weighted (A) and gadolinium-enhanced (B) images show irregular, patchy, marrow signal changes and gadolinium enhancement with erosive change of vertebral endplates and mild anterior paraspinal inflammatory soft-tissue thickening at the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebral bodies. The follow-up sagittal T1-weighted gadolinium-enhanced image (C) revealed progression of the same lesion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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