Clinical metagenomic sequencing for rapid diagnosis of neonatal meningitis caused by Ureaplasma parvum: A case report

INTRODUCTION: It is challenging to obtain favorable results through conventional diagnostic testing for Ureaplasma parvum (UP), a conditional pathogen, because of the atypical clinical phenotype of UP meningitis. PATIENT CONCERNS AND DIAGNOSIS: Herein, we report a pediatric case of neonatal meningitis caused by UP in a spontaneously delivered full-term baby. The infant's temperature peak was 38.3°C at the age of 9 days. The patient was diagnosed with neonatal suppurative meningitis. INTERVENTIONS AND OUTCOMES: The pathogen was diagnosed in a timely and accurate manner by metagenome sequencing, and the patient was eventually discharged with azithromycin. CONCLUSIONS: Neonatal Ureaplasma meningitis may be more common than previously suspected. The clinical manifestations were not obvious and were similar to those of neonatal meningitis caused by other bacteria. When conventional treatments and conventional pathogenic tests are negative, mNGS is a better choice for timely and accurate pathogen identification.