Abstract
Infection with Campylobacter species is a predominant cause of food-borne gastroenteritis in the industrialized world. Bacteremia is detected in <1% of patients with diarrhea, mainly in immunocompromised hosts or those in the extremes of age. Reported here is the case of a 78-year-old, immunocompromised male patient with Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni bacteremia complicated by cellulitis. The infection was characterized by a protracted course with several recurrences and refractoriness to multiple antibiotic regimens, responding only to a prolonged course of meropenem treatment. The frequency of cellulitis as reflected in previously reported series of Campylobacter bacteremia and the clinical characteristics of this difficult-to-treat infection are reviewed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mead PS, Slutsker L, Dietz V, McCaig LF, Bresee JS, Shapiro C, Griffin PM, Tauxe RV (1999) Food-related illness and death in the United States. Emerg Infect Dis 5:607–625
Allos BM (2001) Campylobacter jejuni infections: update on emerging issues and trends. Clin Infect Dis 32:1201–1206
Blaser MJ (2000) Campylobacter jejuni and related species. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R (eds) Mandell, Douglas and Bennett’s principles and practice of infectious diseases. Churchill Livingstone, Philadelphia, pp 2276–2285
Schonheyder HC, Sogaard P, Frederiksen W (1995) A survey of Campylobacter bacteremia in three Danish counties, 1989 to 1994. Scand J Infect Dis 27:145–148
Lu PL, Hsueh PR, Hung CC, Chang SC, Luh KT, Lee CY (2000) Bacteremia due to Campylobacter species: high rate of resistance to macrolide and quinolone antibiotics. J Formos Med Assoc 99:612–617
Pigrau C, Bartolome R, Almirante B, Planes AM, Gavalda J, Pahissa A (1997) Bacteremia due to Campylobacter species: clinical findings and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Clin Infect Dis 25:1414–1420
Tee W, Mijch A (1998) Campylobacter jejuni bacteremia in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and non-HIV-infected patients: comparison of clinical features and review. Clin Infect Dis 26:91–96
Font C, Cruceta A, Moreno A, Miro O, Coll-Vinent B, Almela M, Mensa J (1997) A study of 30 patients with bacteremia due to Campylobacter spp. Med Clin (Barc) 108:336–340
Skirrow MB, Jones DM, Sutcliffe E, Benjamin J (1993) Campylobacter bacteraemia in England and Wales, 1981–91. Epidemiol Infect 110:567–573
Spelman DW, Davidson N, Buckmaster ND, Spicer WJ, Ryan P (1986) Campylobacter bacteraemia: a report of 10 cases. Med J Aust 145:503–505
Francioli P, Herzstein J, Grob JP, Vallotton JJ, Mombelli G, Glauser MP (1985) Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus bacteremia. Arch Intern Med 145:289–292
LeBar WD, Menard RR, Check FE (1985) Hypogammaglobulinemia and recurrent Campylobacter jejuni infection. J Infect Dis 152:1099–1100
Kerstens PJ, Endtz HP, Meis JF, Oyen WJ, Koopman RJ, van den Broek PJ, van der Meer JW (1992) Erysipelas-like skin lesions associated with Campylobacter jejuni septicemia in patients with hypogammaglobulinemia. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 11:842–847
Musher DM (1980) Cutaneous and soft-tissue manifestations of sepsis due to gram-negative enteric bacilli. Rev Infect Dis 2:854–866
Righter J, Wells WA, Hart GD, McNeely DJ (1983) Relapsing septicemia caused by Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus. Can Med Assoc J 128:686–689
Carbone KM, Heinrich MC, Quinn TC (1985) Thrombophlebitis and cellulitis due to Campylobacter fetus ssp. fetus. Report of four cases and a review of the literature. Medicine (Baltimore) 64:244–250
Neuzil KM, Wang E, Haas DW, Blaser MJ (1994) Persistence of Campylobacter fetus bacteremia associated with absence of opsonizing antibodies. J Clin Microbiol 32:1718–1720
Ichiyama S, Hirai S, Minami T, Nishiyama Y, Shimizu S, Shimokata K, Ohta M (1998) Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus cellulitis associated with bacteremia in debilitated hosts. Clin Infect Dis 27:252–255
Briedis DJ, Khamessan A, McLaughlin RW, Vali H, Panaritou M, Chan ECS (2002) Isolation of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus from a patient with cellulitis. J Clin Microbiol 40:4792–4796
Engberg J, Aarestrup FM, Taylor DE, Gerner-Smidt P, Nachamkin I (2001) Quinolone and macrolide resistance in Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli: resistance mechanisms and trends in human isolates. Emerg Infect Dis 7:24–34
Wang WL, Blaser MJ (1986) Detection of pathogenic Campylobacter species in blood culture systems. J Clin Microbiol 23:709–714
Tajada P, Gomez-Graces JL, Alos JI, Balas D, Cogollos R (1996) Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli to 12 beta-lactam agents and combinations with beta-lactamase inhibitors. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 40:1924–1925
Tremblay C, Gaudreau C (1998) Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 59 strains of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 42:1847–1849
Lau SK, Woo PC, Leung KW, Yuen KY (2002) Emergence of cotrimoxazole- and quinolone-resistant Campylobacter infections in bone marrow transplant recipients. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 21:127–129
Blaser MJ (1998) Campylobacter fetus—emerging infection and model system for bacterial pathogenesis at mucosal surfaces. Clin Infect Dis 27:256–258
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Monselise, A., Blickstein, D., Ostfeld, I. et al. A case of cellulitis complicating Campylobacter jejuni subspecies jejuni bacteremia and review of the literature. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 23, 718–721 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-004-1201-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-004-1201-x