Elizabethkingia meningosepticum in a Patient with Six-Year Bilateral Perma-Catheters

Elizabethkingia meningosepticum (EM) is a saprophyte which is ubiquitous in nature, but not normally present in the human flora. Instances of infection are rare in the USA, but EM may be an emerging pathogen among immune-compromised patients. EM can cause a variety of infections, but nosocomial pneumonia and bacteremia have been the most commonly reported among immune-compromised adults. EM has proven difficult to treat with a mortality rate of 23%-41% in adult bacteremia. This is likely due to its resistance to commonly used empiric antibiotics for Gram-negative infections. A review of the literature suggests that there has been a shift EM's susceptibility profile over time along with a great variability in antibiotic susceptibilities reported. This signifies the importance of close monitoring of these changes. In this report we present a case of a 64-year-old male with end stage renal disease and bilateral subclavian perma-catheters, who was admitted with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. While initial peripheral blood cultures were negative, cultures later drawn from his perma-catheters revealed Corneybacterium species and EM. The patient was initially treated with empiric vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam. After antibiotics susceptibilities became available, he was treated with levofloxacin and ceftazidime. The patient improved, was culture negative, and later had perma-catheter removal.