Pneumococcal meningitis partially resistant to penicillin

Strains of pneumococci partially resistant to penicillin were recently recovered from two patients. In an infant with persistent meningitis, penicillin-resistant pneumococci (MIC 0.3 μg/ml) were grown from both blood and cerebrospinal fluid three days after initiation of treatment with intravenous penicillin. Rapid clinical recovery followed the addition of chloramphenicol. Attention is drawn to the worldwide appearance of pneumococci resistant to penicillin, which have not been previously described in Israel, and to the difficulties in their recognition.