The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2020 , Vol 62 , Num 6
A case of fulminant pneumococcus meningoencephalitis progressing with white matter involvement despite two doses of conjugated pneumococcus vaccine
1 Departments of Pediatric Intensive Care, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey2 Departments of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
3 Departments of Pediatric Infection, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
4 Departments of Pediatric Radiology, Ankara Unive Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey DOI : 10.24953/turkjped.2020.06.018 Background. Streptococcus pneumonia is a cause of serious mortality and morbidity, especially among small children. However, currently, it causes lower rates of invasive infections due to successful vaccination programs
Case. We report an exceptional case of a 6-month-old child with meningoencephalitis caused by Streptococcus pneumonia despite the administration of two doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). Meningitis progressed rapidly and led to widespread damage in parenchymal brain tissue with the emergence of fulminant meningoencephalitis. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed widespread brain lesions, suggesting extensive parenchymal injury.
Conclusion. Such diffuse white matter lesions among pediatric patients with Streptococcus pneumonia meningoencephalitis despite two doses of PCV have not been reported previously.
Keywords : pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, meningoencephalitis, meningitis, streptococcus pneumoniae, serotype 19F