Lactose-positive Vibrio in seawater: a cause of pneumonia and septicemia in a drowning victim

J Clin Microbiol. 1980 Mar;11(3):278-80. doi: 10.1128/jcm.11.3.278-280.1980.

Abstract

Lactose-positive Vibrio is a recently recognized marine organism that has pathogenic potential for humans. An organism was isolated from the sputum and blood of a man who was resuscitated after drowning in the sea. The isolates from both sources had the characteristics of lactose-positive Vibrio, which include positive oxidase, citrate, indole, and o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside reactions and negative Voges-Proskauer, urease, and sucrose reactions. Seawater samples from 21 sites around Galveston Island were cultured for lactose-positive Vibrio over a period of 4 weeks, and 36% of the samples yielded the organism. The environmental isolates were very similar to the clinical isolates in biochemical reactions and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. The results indicate that lactose-positive Vibrio is a common organism in the marine environment and that it should be considered in the diagnosis of infections, including pneumonia, associated with exposure to the sea.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Blood / microbiology
  • Drowning*
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial
  • Humans
  • Lactose / metabolism
  • Male
  • Pneumonia / etiology*
  • Seawater
  • Sepsis / etiology*
  • Sputum / microbiology
  • Vibrio / drug effects
  • Vibrio / isolation & purification*
  • Vibrio / metabolism
  • Water Microbiology*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Lactose