Doctors in Ontario have identified a new antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria that's led to a case of meningitis in a child.
The "superbug," a new substrain of Streptococcus pneumoniae 19A, has caused dozens of ear infections in Massachusetts and New York State.
Now, CTV News has learned that this new substrain of 19A has caused a serious infection in a child at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
The child's illness developed into bacterial meningitis, a potentially fatal infection of the fluid around the spinal cord and brain.
After trying numerous antibiotics designed for children, doctors eventually turned to levofloxicin, a powerful antibiotic not typically used in children. That drug was effective against the bacteria. The child is still quite ill, says hospital official Dr. Upton Allen, and treatment is continuing.
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