Failure of Response to Ampicillin in Hemophilus influenzae Meningitis

Abstract

BACTERIOLOGIC relapse in patients with meningitis due to<i>Hemophilus influenzae</i>treated with ampicillin has recently been recorded.^1-4This report presents a patient with<i>H influenzae</i>meningitis who failed to respond to accepted ampicillin therapy. <h3>Report of a Case</h3> A 21-month-old Negro boy was referred to the North Carolina Baptist Hospital because he had a febrile illness for three days' duration which had not responded to treatment with penicillin. On admission his temperature was 103 F (39.4 C). He was above the 50th percentile for height and weight. He was lethargic but not critically ill. There were classical clinical manifestations of meningitis. Hemoglobin value was 6.5 gm/100 ml, and the hematocrit reading was 28%. Dietary history, morphology of the peripheral smear, and red blood cell indices indicated an iron deficiency anemia. However, the patient was given a transfusion of packed cells before a serum iron or iron binding capacity was