Brief Communication Klebsiella pneumoniae Brain Abscess in Neonates: A Report of 2 Cases

Brain abscesses are uncommon in neonates. Klebsiella pneu-moniae is a very uncommon microbial agent to cause brain abscess. We report 2 infants with Klebsiella pneumoniae sep-sis who developed brain abscesses. One infant was a prema-ture neonate who required mechanical ventilation for respiratory distress syndrome and subsequently developed nosocomial sepsis and brain abscess without evidence of pre-ceding meningitis. Another infant was a full-term neonate without risk factors for sepsis who developed seizures on the sixth postnatal day and was found to have meningitis and brain abscess. Both infants had Klebsiella pneumoniae septi-cemia with multiple relatively large brain abscesses that responded poorly to antimicrobial agents. These infants were managed with transfontanel drainage and prolonged courses of antimicrobial agents. Key message of this report is that Klebsiella pneumoniae brain abscess may occur in the absence of meningitis and even in the absence of any identifi-able risk factors