Abstrakt

Bacteremia with Turicella otitidis in an institutionalized elderly patient with multiple hospital admissions: a case report

Victoria B

Coryneform bacteria (with the exception of Corynebacterium diphtheria), is considered to be part of the normal flora of the skin. It was found, in the last twenty years, to be involved in human pathology by identifying pathogenic species such as Turicella otitidis. There are few descriptions in the literature regarding T. otitidis involvement in human pathology, especially in children under 3 years old. We report the first case of bacteraemia in an institutionalized adult patient. We present the case of a 75- years-old Caucasian institutionalized patient, recently hospitalized for two episodes of urinary tract infection, who was in treatment at the last admission for a Proteus mirabilis bloodstream infection, presented himself to the emergency room for fever 38.1°C, intense asthenia, adynamia, confusion, altered general condition, and he is admitted into the Internal Medicine Department. From the blood cultures harvested upon admission, the presence of Gram-positive bacilli has been confirmed; bacilli identified on API® Coryne system kits, as Turicella otitidis. The evolution was favourable under the initiated antibiotic treatment prior to obtaining blood count results, the patient was discharged from the hospital with the recommendation of performing a prevention of recurrent lower urinary tract infections by long-term administration of fosfomycin. Bacteremia with Turicella otitidis , due to previous ear colonization, is possible to occur secondary to local and general immune alterations.