USE OF MOLECULAR ANALYSIS IN PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF LATE-ONSET NEONATAL ESCHERICHIA-COLI MENINGITIS

We describe one case of late-onset neonatal Escherichia coli meningiti s associated with urinary tract infection. Two genotypic methods revea led that the E. coli isolates obtained from blood, feces, and cerebros pinal fluid shared the same pattern, which was different from the uniq ue pattern obtained for the isolates recovered from the urine and the tracheal aspirate, Our study supports passage of bacteria through the gastrointestinal mucosa to the bloodstream as the initial event, with subsequent meningeal localization.