Bacterial meningitis and COVID-19: a complex patient journey.

A woman in her 70s presented to the emergency department with fever, fluctuating cognition and headache. A detailed examination revealed neurological weakness to the lower limbs with atonia and areflexia, leading to a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis, alongside a concurrent COVID-19 infection. The patient required critical care escalation for respiratory support. After stepdown to a rehabilitation ward, she had difficulties communicating due to new aphonia, hearing loss and left third nerve palsy. The team used written communication with the patient, and with this the patient was able to signal neurological deterioration. Another neurological examination noted a different pattern of weakness to the lower limbs, along with new urinary retention, and spinal arachnoiditis was identified. After more than 10 weeks in the hospital, the patient was discharged. Throughout this case, there were multiple handovers between teams and specialties, all of which were underpinned by good communication and examination to achieve the best care.

Mesenchymal stem cells transplantation attenuates brain injury and enhances bacterial clearance in Escherichia coli meningitis in newborn rats.

OBJECTIVE: Neonatal meningitis caused by Escherichia coli results in significant mortality and neurological disabilities, with few effective treatments. Recently, we demonstrated that human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hUCB-MSC) transplantation attenuated E. coli-induced severe pneumonia, primarily by reducing inflammation and enhancing bacterial clearance. This study aimed to determine whether intraventricular transplantation of hUCB-MSCs attenuated the brain injury in E. coli meningitis in newborn rats. METHODS: Meningitis without concomitant bacteremia was induced by intraventricular injection of 5 × 102 colony forming units of K1 (-) E. coli in rats at postnatal day (P)11, and hUCB-MSCs (1 × 105) were transplanted intraventricularly 6 h after induction of meningitis. Antibiotics was started 24 h after modeling. RESULT: Meningitis modeling induced robust proliferation of E. coli in the cerebrospinal fluid and increased mortality in rat pups, and MSC transplantation significantly reduced this bacterial growth and the mortality rate. Impaired sensorimotor function in the meningitis rats was ameliorated by MSCs injection. MSCs transplantation also attenuated meningitis caused brain injury including cerebral ventricular dilatation, brain cell death, reactive gliosis, and inflammatory response. CONCLUSION: Intraventricular transplantation of hUCB-MSCs significantly improved survival and attenuated the brain injury via anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects in experimental neonatal E. coli meningitis.