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Case Reports
. 2019 Apr 24;1(6):e000020.
doi: 10.1099/acmi.0.000020. eCollection 2019.

Pneumococcal puerperal mastitis in a lactating mother

T Skalidis  1 , A Stamnidi  1 , V Syriopoulou  2 , G Kontopoulos  3 , N Legakis  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Pneumococcal puerperal mastitis in a lactating mother

T Skalidis et al. Access Microbiol. .

Abstract

Introduction: A case of pneumococcal mastitis in a breast-feeding mother 6 months postpartum is described. Mastitis is usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus . A review of the literature from 1950 to March 2018 revealed only four other cases in which the causative organism was Streptococcus pneumoniae .

Case presentation: The nursing mother presented with high fever and the four cardinal signs of inflammation of the left breast: calor, dolor, rubor, tumour. In milk culture Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated in numbers exceeding 105 c.f.u. ml-1 . The strain was of polysaccharide serotype 11 not included in Prevnar-13. Susceptibility testing showed full sensitivity to β-lactam antibiotics as well as to macrolides, lincosamides, vancomycin and tetracycline.

Conclusion: Streptococcus pneumoniae should be considered as a possible causative agent of puerperal mastitis.

Keywords: breast-feeding; pneumococcal infection; puerperal mastitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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