Abstract
The bacterium S. suis is an usual pathogene in pigs. Persons in contact with sick or infected animals are threatened: pig keepers, veterinarians, butchers and other workers engaged in raw pork processing.
S. suis enters the body through a cut wounds and lesions of the skin or mucosa of the mouth and nasal cavity. The disease is clinical manifested usualy as meningitis; septicemia, pneumonia or endocarditis are rare.
The development of toxic shock syndrome is connected with high mortality rate (overall average 17 %). 75 % of patiens with meningitis suffer from permanent hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction. The most frequently isolated S. suis serotype 2 is generaly sensitive to penicillin, ampicillin, II and III generation cephalosporins.
In the article there is described a sporadic case of purulent meningitis in the Czech republic in a young woman working as a pig keeper. The developing of audio-vestibular disorder after the ending of acute phase led to the permanent disability in this patient.