Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Meningitis Complicated with Secondary Hypopituitarism: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) commonly causes neonatal meningitis and sepsis. In infants with late-onset meningitis, fever, irritability or lethargy or both, poor feeding, and tachypnea are common initial signs. Major neurologic sequelae are observed in 29% of children, the most serious including global or profound mental retardation, spastic quadriplegia, cortical blindness, deafness, uncontrolled seizures, hydrocephalus, and hypothalamic dysfunction. We report a 14-day-old full-term female infant who presented with grunting and irritability to the emergency room and was diagnosed with GBS meningitis subsequently complicated with central diabetes insipidus and secondary hypopituitarism. Central diabetes insipidus should be ruled out in infants with complicated GBS meningitis.