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Case Reports
. 2023 Nov 20:13:1292768.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1292768. eCollection 2023.

Case Report: Disseminated Edwardsiella tarda infection in an immunocompromised patient

Lucia An  1 , June L Chan  2 , Margaret Nguyen  1 , Shangxin Yang  2 , Jaime G Deville  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Case Report: Disseminated Edwardsiella tarda infection in an immunocompromised patient

Lucia An et al. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. .

Abstract

Human infection caused by bacteria of the Edwardsiella genus is rare and most often presents with gastroenteritis that rarely requires antibiotics. Our case report describes a medically complex patient with chronic steroid use contributing to an immunocompromised state, who presented with fever and abdominal pain. The patient was later found to have Edwardsiella tarda (E. tarda) bacteremia and underwent paracentesis confirming E. tarda bacterial peritonitis requiring a prolonged antibiotic course. This case report aims to illustrate the presentation, diagnosis, and management of an uncommon infection that can have severe complications especially among immunocompromised patients.

Keywords: Edwardsiella tarda; case report; disseminated infection; immunocompromised; spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Treatment timeline.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Edwardsiella tarda recovered from patient blood. (A, B) Isolate growth after 36 hours incubation. (A) Colonies on sheep blood agar. Colonies exhibit β-hemolysis with distinct zones of clearing on plate reverse. (B) Colonies on MacConkey agar. Colonies remain colorless due to inability to ferment lactose. (C) Gram stain showing straight gram-negative rods, 1000X magnification. (D) From left to right: positive urease control (Klebsiella pneumoniae), E tarda negative urease, uninoculated triple sugar iron (TSI) slant, E tarda TSI slant with K/A, Gas, H2S result. Arrows point out gas bubbles. (E) Spot oxidase test E tarda negative result (no color change to violet). (F) Spot indole test E tarda positive result (color change to turquoise-blue).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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