Meningococcal Meningitis — Suboptimal Response to Cephalothin Therapy

Meningococcal disease continues to be a serious problem, and increasing recognition of sulfadiazine-resistant strains1 2 3 4 renders sulfonamide therapy untenable. For most persons either penicillin G or ampicillin has supplanted sulfonamides as the antimicrobial agents of choice in the treatment of meningococcal disease in man.3 , 5 However, selecting therapy for penicillin-sensitive patients remains a problem. Various cephalosporin derivatives have been suggested as bactericidal alternatives in life-threatening infections, but little experience with these agents has been reported in association with meningococcal disease. Binns and Pankey6 described a patient with meningococcal meningitis treated with cephalothin whose response was equivocal. They expressed the hope that others . . .