Copyright X 1991, American Society for Microbiology Meningitis Caused by Psychrobacter immobilis in an Infant

Psychrobacter immobilis was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of a 2-day-old infant who appeared well except for a fever and a full anterior fontanelle. The infant was treated with antibiotics intravenously. After 48 h, he became afebrile and CSF and blood cultures were negative; he was then discharged. After 96 h of incubation, CSF and blood cultures yielded a gram-negative organism, P. immobilis. The child was readmitted to the hospital, and the same organism was again isolated from his blood and CSF. Psychrobacter immobilis is a recently described, chiefly psychrotrophic, aerobic, gram-negative, nonmotile, oxidase-positive coccobacillus that has been proposed as a member of the family Neisseriaceae (5). It has been found mainly in association with fish, poultry, and meat products. Cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) and blood have only rarely been reported as sources of isolation of P. immobilis (3). Little is known of the clinical significance of this organism; however, strains have been isolated from a variety of human sources, such as brain tissue, the eye, the urethra, and blood (3, 5). Th