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Updated: Oct 6, 2026

Establishing Stable Binary Cultures of Symbiotic Saccharibacteria from the Oral Cavity
Published on: April 13, 2021
Streptococcus salivarius meningitis case strain traced to oral flora of anesthesiologist
Patricia L Shewmaker1, Robert E Gertz, Clara Y Kim
1Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
Abstract:
Two women in labor received intrapartum spinal anesthesia from the same anesthesiologist approximately 1 h apart. Within 15 h, both patients developed Streptococcus salivarius meningitis and one patient died. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from both patients and tongue swab specimens from the anesthesiologist yielded isolates of an indistinguishable S. salivarius strain.
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