This is the first report, in Brasilian medical literature, of a case of tuberculous meningitis in a child 5 years old, successfully treated with Streptomycin. Koch bacillus was evidenced in the cerebrospinal fluid and the innoculation in guinea pig was positive. Treatment started 8 days after onset of the meningeal signs; it lasted 71 days, being the total dose of Streptomycin 44,600,000 units (42,650,000 intramuscularly and 1,950,000 intrathecally, by means of lumbar and cisternal punctures). Promin was associated to Streptomycin in the last days of treatment. The authors believe, however, that the results were due to Streptomycin alone, which, since therapy was started, definitely improved the course of the disease. After 40 days that the treatment was discontinued the patient showed normal behavior, with no neurological sequelae. Repeated tests of cerebrospinal fluid denoted progressive improvement, and, at the end, there was only lymphocytic pleocytosis (71 cells by mm3), increase of the protein content and a thin fibrinous reticulum. In spite of these good results, the authors cannot affirm a complete recovery, because the time of observation is still too short to allow a definite estimation.
