[A case of sepsis in ILBW infant caused by Bacillus cereus].

Bacillus cereus is an aerobic or facultative anaerobic Gram-positive rod which is ubiquitous in the environment. The incidence of neonatal infections is very low. The clinical course is serious, usually life- threatening or permanently damaging the central nervous system. The immature immune system, subjected to invasive procedures, increases the morbidity risk in this age group, especially in extremely low birth weight infants. Diagnostic difficulties and insusceptibility to ''first- line'' antibiotics can delay effective therapy and increase the risk of its failure. We report a 730 g preterm neonate, delivered at 27 weeks gestation with late- onset sepsis due to Bacillus cereus. The disease course was complicated by development of brain abscesses. We describe the clinical course of infection, diagnostic difficulties and the treatment. After the 140 days of hospitalization and relatively long period of therapy with different antibiotics, the patient was discharged from hospital in good condition. Despite of transmission of infection to the central nervous system, the introduced therapy prevented severe neurological disabilities as confirmed during the evaluation according to the Bayley Scale of Infant Development, performed at 29 months of life.