Streptococcus gallolyticus (bovis): a rare presentation of meningitis in the ED.

Bacterial meningitis is a fairly common and often deadly manifestation of altered mental status in the elderly, carrying a mortality rate of greater than 20% despite antibiotic therapy. Most commonly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. We present a case of meningitis caused by Streptococcus gallolyticus in an elderly, otherwise healthy woman. There have been no reports in the emergency medicine literature and only a few reports in the literature of S gallolyticus as a cause of altered mental status and meningitis, specifically of immunocompetent patients.