Open AccessLife-threatening Listeria meningitis: Need for revision of South African acute bacterial meningitis treatment guidelines
Author(s) -
Clara-Maria Schutte,
C. H. Van Der Meyden,
Mandisa Kakaza,
Zarina I. Lockhat,
Estée van der Walt
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
samj. south african medical journal/south african medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.527
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2078-5135
pISSN - 0256-9574
DOI - 10.7196/samj.2019.v109i5.13866
Subject(s) - medicine , lumbar puncture , meningitis , emergency department , surgery , case fatality rate , pediatrics , cerebrospinal fluid , epidemiology , psychiatry
The recent listeriosis outbreak in South Africa (SA) received widespread attention in the media. More than 1 000 laboratory-confirmed cases of listeriosis occurred during an 18-month period, with a case fatality rate of 28%. Acute bacterial meningitis due to listeriosis was extremely rare at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria until 2017/18, when we saw two very sick adults with this condition during the listeriosis outbreak.