Two cases of a meningitis-causing infection in infants have been recorded in the U.S., MedPage Today reported Feb. 9.
The Paenibacillus dendritiformis infection led to severe meningitis in both cases and was found in a female infant in Pennsylvania and a male infant in Minnesota, one of whom died, the report said. Both infants were born preterm and spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit.
“This could be an emerging infection that could become more common,” Jessica Ericson, MD, of Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., told MedPage. She and her colleagues posted an article in the Public Health Alerts section of NEJM Evidence.
P. dendritiformis are spore-forming, gram-positive bacteria commonly found in the soil microbiome. Infections can lead to brain damage due to the bacteria consuming thiamine in brain tissue. Similar cases in Ugandan infants have been linked to rainfall and proximity to large bodies of water. Infection requires longer durations of antibiotics than typically used to treat meningitis.
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