Protracted Bacteremia and Meningitis Due to Vibrio Fetus

Meningitis with bacteremia due toVibrio fetushas not hitherto been reported in the English literature, although one such case is reported from France.1Interest in our case arises from the fact that protracted bacteremia (more than two months) and positive spinal fluid (one month) were observed in a patient who at the time had relatively little to show objectively. This case was observed in the summer of 1955, and the organism was studied by ourselves and others for two years until a reading of Spink's article2on human vibriosis sparked our thinking. As a result the organism was sent to Miss Elizabeth King3,4of the Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta who confirmed its identity asV fetus, and who kindly carried out the serological studies. This is a report of the case. Report of Case This was the first admission of a 55-year-old machinist to the