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Septic shock caused by Capnocytophaga canis after a cat scratch

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Abstract

Capnocytophaga canis is an uncommon cause of septic shock. Only three cases have been previously reported in the literature. In this article, we describe the case of a 70-year-old male admitted to the intensive care unit for septic shock of unknown origin. On day 2, one anaerobic bottle out of the two sets taken at admission turned positive with Gram-negative bacilli. The pathogen was identified by 16S rRNA gene as C. canis. The strain was characterized and compared with other clinical isolates of Capnocytophaga spp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Viviane Donner, Marta Buzzi & Jacques Schrenzel

  2. Genomic Research Laboratory, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Vladimir Lazarevic, Nadia Gaïa, Myriam Girard & Jacques Schrenzel

  3. Research Unit in Biology of Microorganisms (URBM), Narilis, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Francesco Renzi

  4. Bacteriology Laboratory, Department Diagnostics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland

    Gesuele Renzi, Abdessalam Cherkaoui & Jacques Schrenzel

Authors
  1. Viviane Donner
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  2. Marta Buzzi
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  3. Vladimir Lazarevic
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  4. Nadia Gaïa
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  5. Myriam Girard
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  6. Francesco Renzi
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  7. Gesuele Renzi
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  8. Abdessalam Cherkaoui
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  9. Jacques Schrenzel
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Contributions

VD contributed with the original idea and case description, and wrote to the final version of the manuscripts with the help of MB, VL, FR, GR, AC, and JS. FR performed the characterization of the serovar. GR and AC performed the bacteriological and molecular analyses. MG, NG, and VL performed the genomic analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacques Schrenzel.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have nothing to disclose. Francesco Renzi is a Research Associate of the F.R.S.-FNRS

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Written consent was given by the patient for anonymous publication of clinical history and laboratory data relevant for the case presentation and publication.

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Donner, V., Buzzi, M., Lazarevic, V. et al. Septic shock caused by Capnocytophaga canis after a cat scratch. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 39, 1993–1995 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03922-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03922-8

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