BACTERIOLOGIC relapse in patients with meningitis due to Hemophilus influenzae treated with ampicillin has recently been recorded.1-4 This report presents a patient with H influenzae meningitis who failed to respond to accepted ampicillin therapy.
Report of a Case
A 21-month-old Negro boy was referred to the North Carolina Baptist Hospital because he had a febrile illness for three days' duration which had not responded to treatment with penicillin. On admission his temperature was 103 F (39.4 C). He was above the 50th percentile for height and weight. He was lethargic but not critically ill. There were classical clinical manifestations of meningitis. Hemoglobin value was 6.5 gm/100 ml, and the hematocrit reading was 28%. Dietary history, morphology of the peripheral smear, and red blood cell indices indicated an iron deficiency anemia. However, the patient was given a transfusion of packed cells before a serum iron or iron binding capacity was