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Vaccine strain Listeria monocytogenes bacteremia occurring 31 months after immunization

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Abstract

Background

Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne, facultative intracellular bacterium that causes severe diseases such as sepsis and meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised hosts. Because it stimulates robust T-lymphocyte-mediated responses, attenuated L. monocytogenes are candidate vaccine vectors for tumor immunotherapy.

Case

We report a case of bacteremia caused by vaccine strain L. monocytogenes (Axalimogene filolisbac) occurring 31 months after immunization against human papilloma virus (HPV) associated cervical cancer.

Conclusion

Receipt of a L. monocytogenes-based vaccine is a novel risk factor for delayed L. monocytogenes bacteremia.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jennifer C. Hunter and Brendan R. Jackson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA for assistance with manuscript preparation. We also thank members of the CDC Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch for pulsed-field electrophoresis analysis, whole-genome sequencing, and whole-genome sequencing analysis: Cheryl L. Tarr, Katie Roache, Zuzana Kucerova, Steven Stroika, and Lee S. Katz.

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Author notes

  1. Elias Fares

    Present address: , Erie, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 800 Stanton L. Young Blvd, Suite 7300, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA

    Elias Fares, Linda J. Salinas & Douglas A. Drevets

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Cindy B. McCloskey

  3. Advaxis, Inc, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Andres Gutierrez & Michael Princiotta

  4. Medical Services, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Douglas A. Drevets

Authors
  1. Elias Fares
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  2. Cindy B. McCloskey
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  3. Andres Gutierrez
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  4. Michael Princiotta
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  5. Linda J. Salinas
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  6. Douglas A. Drevets
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas A. Drevets.

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Conflict of interest

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. EF, CM, LS, and DD are not affiliated with, nor received any funding from Advaxis, Inc. AG and MP are current employees of Advaxis, Inc.

Ethics statement

The clinical trial under which the patient received experimental immunotherapy and subsequent review of her records were done with the approval of the Institutional Review Board at OUHSC.

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Fares, E., McCloskey, C.B., Gutierrez, A. et al. Vaccine strain Listeria monocytogenes bacteremia occurring 31 months after immunization. Infection 47, 489–492 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-018-1249-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-018-1249-7

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