Meningitis Due toListeria monocytogenes

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Abstract
Twenty-five patients with bacteriologically proved Listeria monocytogenes meningitis were studied. Twenty-one were male. Nine of the 25 were neonates, and 11 were 55 years of age or older. Twenty-four patients received either ampicillin or penicillin, at times in combination with other antibiotics. One of the ampicillin-treated patients, and six of the penicillin-treated patients died. Recovery of the patient from meningeal infection seemed to correlate best with an initial cerebrospinal-fluid glucose level over 30 mg per 100 ml. These data, like those already appearing in the literature, suggest that intravenous ampicillin may be the therapy of choice, from the standpoint of both superior efficacy and relative lack of toxicity.