Background: Group B β-hemolytic streptococci (GBS, Streptococcus agalactiae) are a major cause of disease
in the neonatal and perinatal periods. They also cause significant infections in postpartum
women. However, during the last years GBS are becoming a major pathogen in older children
and non-pregnant adults. Meningitis is a rare but serious anifestation and occurs in individuals with chronic underlying diseases, such as malignancy, renal failure, neurologic impairment, alcoholic liver disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular or pulmonary disease.Case Report: In this paper, we present a case of meningitis caused by Group B Steptococcus in an adult male patient with diabetes mellitus. A 40-year-old male patient presented with confusion, fever, headache and signs of meningeal irritation. Streptococcus agalactiae was isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid. After 23 days of successful intravenous antibiotic treatment with ampicillin, the patient recovered. He was discharged from our hospital in good general condition and was instructed to take ampicillin per os for one more week (total therapy of 4 weeks). Nevertheless, hearing loss of left ear (a well-known complication)remained permanent.Conclusions: We discuss a rare case of GBS meningitis in an adult male patient, with diabetes mellitus being the only predisposing condition leading to this type of infection. We make a review of the literature and point-out the fact that although our patient recovered, hearing loss (a well-known complication) remained permanent.

Keywords: group B streptococci(GBS), Meningitis, diabetes, adults