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. 2019 Sep 11;6(9):001214.
doi: 10.12890/2019_001214. eCollection 2019.

Sphingobacterium multivorum: An Atypical Bacterium in an Atypical Place

Hadrián Pernas-Pardavila  1 , Aldara M Vallejo-Alonso  2 , Ignacio Novo-Veleiro  1 , Daniel Navarro de la Cruz  2 , Arturo González-Quintela  1
Affiliations

Sphingobacterium multivorum: An Atypical Bacterium in an Atypical Place

Hadrián Pernas-Pardavila et al. Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. .

Abstract

We present the case of a 75-year-old woman admitted to hospital because of an infected pressure ulcer. Cultures revealed that the responsible bacterium was Sphingobacterium multivorum, which was successfully eradicated with ciprofloxacin. Over the last few years, there have been reports of new cases of infection caused by bacteria previously not thought to be harmful to humans, like S. multivorum. Previous cases were reported mostly in immunosuppressed patients and the present report is, to our knowledge, the first describing a pressure ulcer infected by this bacterium.

Learning points: Bacteria previously not thought to be harmful to humans can cause disease.Sphingobacterium multivorum should be considered a potential cause of pressure ulcer infection.As S. multivorum may be resistant to many antibiotics, complete susceptibility testing should be mandatory.

Keywords: Sphingobacterium multivorum; comorbidity; pressure ulcer infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interests: The Authors declare that there are no competing interest

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