Causative organisms
The most common organisms causing bacterial meningitis in children are:
Neonates (children under 28 days)
Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B strep)
Escherichia coli
Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus)
Listeria monocytogenes
Children over 3 months
Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus)
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
Following the introduction of vaccines in the last twenty years to control Hib, meningococcus serogroup C, and some types of pneumococcus, the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis has changed dramatically[4].