Yanmeng Sun,1,2,* Zheng Li,1,2,* Yanfang Li,3 Chunyan Zhang,1,2 Mengyuan Wang,1,2 Wenwen Yu,1,2 Guohua Liu,2,3 Shifu Wang1,2 

1Department of Microbiology Laboratory, Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Microbiology Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Children’s Health and Disease, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Shifu Wang, Email wshfu709@163.com

Abstract: Anaerobic bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the central nervous system (CNS) that leads to severe neurological complications, resulting in high levels of disability and mortality worldwide. However, accurately diagnosing and isolating the responsible pathogens remains challenging due to the difficulty in culturing anaerobic bacteria, as they require harsh anaerobic culture conditions. Anaerobic bacteria have rarely been reported in meningitis, especially in children. This report details the first infant with anaerobic meningitis caused by Prevotella bivia. Additionally, we present a case of infant anaerobic meningitis caused by P. bivia, detected using metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS). Our clinical experience highlights the importance of early identification of Prevotella spp. through mNGS and anaerobic culture, the effectiveness of antimicrobial medications, and the timely implementation of carefully planned precision therapeutic regimens. Furthermore, we have conducted a comprehensive review of 10 cases of Prevotella spp. infection, summarized their clinical and laboratory examination characteristics, and identified their commonalities.

Keywords: Prevotella bivia, anaerobic meningitis, infant