Unlocking the Mysteries of CNS Infections
NeuroLogic, Spring 2008

The first symptoms were dizziness, vomiting and hiccups—she had them for nine straight days. Then came double vision, “pins-and-needles” pain, deteriorating motor skills, difficulty swallowing. Soon, Becky Mellinger, a 33-year-old small-business owner and competitive volleyball player, always the picture of perfect health, was in and out of a coma, suffering with an acute, undiagnosed infection of the brainstem.

Surgeons at the university hospital where she was being treated were on the verge of performing a brainstem biopsy, a dangerous procedure with a high rate of complications, when Dr. Avindra Nath was consulted on the telephone. Nath, Director of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections, immediately suspected a listeria infection in the central nervous system.

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