A Rare Pathogen Causing Neonatal Meningitis in the United States

A new report provides details about two premature infants (26 and 33 weeks’ gestation) from different states in the United States. At 2 months and 5 weeks of age, respectively, these infants developed sepsis and extensive meningoencephalitis due to Paenibacillus dendritiformis, a gram-positive bacterium found in the environment. Researchers initially identified the organism as Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus using routine microbiology techniques but later identified it as P. dendritiformis using whole-genome sequencing.