[Epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in France in 1999]. / Epidémiologie des méningites bactériennes en France en 1999.

In France, two sources of data, the mandatory notification and the laboratory network EPIBAC, allow the health authorities to follow the incidence of bacterial meningitis (BM) and to assess the relative frequency of the micro-organisms responsible for such infection. In 1999, more than 1,000 cases of BM were notified in France. The more common micro-organisms were: Streptococcus pneumoniae 46%, Neisseria meningitidis 32% and Streptococcus agalactiae(or Streptococcus B) 11%. Listeria monocytogenes and Haemophilus influenzae accounted for 6% and 5% of the cases respectively. In 1999, the incidence per 100,000 inhabitants of meningitis due to pneumococci (0.81), to streptococci B (0.19) and tuberculosis meningitis (0.17) were stable since 1995. The incidence rate of meningitis due to Listeria (0.10) and to H. influenzae (0.08) shows a regular decrease since 1992. The impact of preventive measures of meningitis due to Listeria and H. influenzae B has been clearly demonstrated through the dramatic decrease of meningitis due to these micro-organisms.

Listeria meningitis after bone marrow transplantation.

Over the past decade infections from food-borne Listeria monocytogenes have become an important cause of septicaemia and meningitis and immunocompromised patients are at particular risk. We report three cases of Listeria meningitis occurring post-BMT. The patients were aged 53, 51 and 56 years and presented 4, 7 and 90 months post-transplant, respectively. The first patient had undergone allogeneic BMT for myelodysplasia and the other two patients had ABMT for AML in second and first CR, respectively. All the patients presented with classical features of meningitis and L. monocytogenes was cultured from cerebrospinal fluid. All made a full recovery with appropriate antibiotic therapy. We have not seen cases of meningitis due to other organisms in our transplant programme and the cases represent a risk of one episode per 59 surviving patient years. None of the patients was receiving prophylactic post-BMT antibiotics and the episodes may strengthen the case for using prophylactic penicillin. Recent epidemics of septicaemia and meningitis caused by L. monocytogenes-contaminated milk and cheese suggest that these patients should be informed about potential sources of infection.

[Seasonal dynamics and the prevention of the meningoencephalitic form of listeriosis in lambs]. / Sezonna dinamika i profilaktika na meningoentsefalitnata forma na listerioza pri agneta.

The seasonal dynamics of the meningoencephalitic form of listeriosis in lambs was followed up. The peak values in the disease course were found to be in the months of February and March. It is likely that outbreaks coincide with the start in feeding the lambs with roughage. The disease was bacteriologically and histologically shown to run its course primarily in lambs aged up to 6 months. Only in 3 cases the affected lambs were up to ten days of age. The changes in the central nervous system were characterized by leukocytic infiltration and diffuse glial proliferation (in 60.2 per cent of the cases), while in adult sheep predominated the focal glial proliferation. Liver and kidney cells showed necrobiotic changes. The use of the method of antibiotic prophylaxis led to recurrence of the disease, while immunizations with an inactivated vaccine against listeriosis suppressed further outbreaks.