Unusual aspects of Salmonella meningitis

Two cases of Salmonella meningitis that demonstrate unusual clinical and epidemiologic features are reported. The first case was a 2-mth-old infant with relapsing Salmonella meningitis in whom ECHO 2 virus and S. enteritidis grew in mixed culture from cerebrospinal fluid. The second case was a 5-mth-old with typhoid meningitis. Although this patient eventually responded to chloramphenicol, repeated CSF cultures grew S. typhi despite his receiving high dose parenteral therapy with ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Stool cultures disclosed that the patient's mother was an asymptomatic carrier of S. typhi. Nine days after the positive stool culture, the mother developed S. typhi bacteremia.