Sneathia species in a case of neonatal meningitis from Northeast India

Here we report the detection of Sneathia species most closely related to Sneathia sanguinegens, an infrequently reported bacterium, in the cerebrospinal fluid of a neonate by a culture independent method. Even though on rare occasions, this bacterium was isolated previously from the blood of neonatal bacteraemia cases. To the best of our knowledge there exists no previous report of detection of S. sanguinegens in the cerebrospinal fluid even though recently there has been a report of isolation of closely related species, Leptotrichia amnionii. The neonate recovered following antimicrobial therapy for 21 days. We conclude that uncultivable or difficult- to-cultivate bacteria like Sneathia could be an emerging pathogen for neonatal infection.