Bloodstream infection caused by Campylobacter lari

J Infect Chemother. 2013 Apr;19(2):333-7. doi: 10.1007/s10156-012-0471-y. Epub 2012 Sep 12.

Abstract

We describe a case of bloodstream infection (BSI) caused by Campylobacter lari in a 58-year-old man diagnosed with lumbar pyogenic spondylitis. Anaerobic blood cultures, taken on the day of admission and on hospital day 4, were positive after 30 h of incubation, although no bacteria were detected by Gram staining. After subculture on 5 % sheep blood agar for 2 days at 35 °C in a 5 % CO2 environment, capnophilic, curved, gram-negative bacteria were recovered. The bacteria were identified as C. lari using a combination of phenotypic identification methods and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The BSI was eradicated following combination therapy with intravenous tazobactam/piperacillin, oral erythromycin, and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim. These results suggest that accurate identification, to the species level, is important to determine effective treatment of BSI caused by Campylobacter spp. and can help us to understand the epidemiology.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Bacteremia / microbiology*
  • Campylobacter Infections / blood*
  • Campylobacter lari / genetics
  • Campylobacter lari / isolation & purification*
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Typing
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA

Substances

  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S