Predictive risk factors for Listeria monocytogenes meningitis compared to pneumococcal meningitis: a multicenter case–control study

Purpose: Various immunocompromised conditions increase the risk of meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes. However, the relative importance of these risk factors has not been well established. We determined the risk factors that predict meningitis due to L. monocytogenes compared to that caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Methods: A nationwide multicenter case–control study was conducted in Korea. Cases of meningitis caused by L. monocytogenes between 1998 and 2013 were included. Patients with pneumococcal meningitis were included as controls. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to predict the risk factors of Listeria meningitis. Results: A total of 36 cases and 113 controls were enrolled. The most significant predictive risk factor of Listeria meningitis was a prior history of receiving immunosuppressive therapy (odds ratio 8.12, 95 % CI 2.47–26.69). Chronic liver disease was the second most important predictive risk factor (OR 5.03, 95 % CI 1.56–16.22). Delaying appropriate antibiotic therapy by more than 6 h (hazard ratio 2.78) and fatal underlying disease (hazard ratio 2.88) were associated with increased mortality. Conclusions: Patients with a prior history of receiving immunosuppressive therapy within 1 month and chronic liver disease have 8.1-fold and 5-fold increased risk of meningitis by L. monocytogenes compared to S. pneumoniae, respectively.