Corynebacterium striatum meningitis: Case report and review of an increasingly important Corynebacterium species

For a long time, corynebacteria were considered simple cutaneous contaminants with little potential pathogenicity. Corynebacterium striatum is a known saprophytic cutaneous bacterium; however, in the last decade, this organism has been increasingly recognized as a pathogen. It has been mostly implicated in respiratory tract and blood infections. To our knowledge, we report the first case of meningitis due to C. striatum. Treatment with intravenous vancomycin resulted in therapeutic success. We also thoroughly review all previously reported cases of C. striatum infection. Identification of Corynebacterium species can be difficult because of rapid taxonomic changes, and susceptibility testing for these microorganisms is not yet standardized. However, because of their growing clinical importance, data on these bacteria are accumulating.