Meningitis caused by Salmonella enterica serotype panama in Brazil: First case reported

Abstract

Salmonella infections usually occur as gastroenteritis that is generally self-limited. However, some serotypes of Salmonella can cause severe extra-intestinal infections, such as bacteremia and meningitis. Here, we report the first Salmonella Panama case of meningitis in 4-month-old male newborn in Brazil. The invasive strain isolated was susceptible to all antimicrobial agents tested. The genes agfA, fimA, invA, sfbA, phoP, and slyA were detected using polymerase chain reactions. These findings are relevant and physicians should be alert to the possibility of meningitis in newborns due to S. Panama, which can present a high rate of mortality or recurrence of infection.