Ataxia in Listeria monocytogenes infections of the central nervous system

From 1976 to 1981 Listeria monocytogenes was second only to Neisseria meningitidis as the cause of bacterial infections of the central nervous system in adults at our hospital. None of the patients with Listeria infection was immunosuppressed or had an underlying malignancy. Ataxia was an initial feature in five of the eight patients, and in three of them it persisted beyond their discharge from the hospital. Ataxia was not a feature of the clinical picture of 14 other adult patients with meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis. Our data indicate that L monocytogenes should be suspected as the etiologic agent in an adult with ataxia and infection of the central nervous system.