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NonepidemicErwinia herbicola (Enterobacter agglomerans) in blood cultures: Bacteriological analysis of fifteen cases

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Abstract

The finding ofErwinia herbicola (Enterobacter agglomerans) in blood cultures of 15 inpatients, during a 53/4-year period in a nonepidemic context, was analyzed for clinical significance. Mixed cultures were seen in 5 patients; multiple sets were taken in 10 patients. In only 6 patients couldErwinia be significantly correlated with clinical septicemia; in 9, it was of doubtful significance, more likely reflecting transient bacteremia than skin contamination or laboratory handling. These findings contrast to previous reports that stress a preponderance of clinically significant strains ofEnterobacter species andErwinia from blood cultures. The only bacteriological differences between the “significant” and “doubtful” groups involved the time required to detectErwinia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, and Clinical Microbiology Laboratories, Yale-New Haven Hospital, 789 Howard Avenue, 06504, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    M. E. Cooper-Smith & A. von Graevenitz

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  1. M. E. Cooper-Smith
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  2. A. von Graevenitz
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Cooper-Smith, M.E., von Graevenitz, A. NonepidemicErwinia herbicola (Enterobacter agglomerans) in blood cultures: Bacteriological analysis of fifteen cases. Current Microbiology 1, 29–32 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02601703

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