A case of salmonella meningitis with accompanying septicaemia and pericarditis is reported in an adult following an episode of enteritis.

Vibrio vulnificus is a naturally occurring, salt-water bacteria found in estuarine and coastal waters worldwide. It prefers low salinity and warm water temperatures for optimum growth. Infection from Vibrio vulnificus is uncommon, although it has been reported from many locations (e.g. southern United States of America, Israel, Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Spain, Turkey). It can be serious...

Vibrio vulnificus is a gram-negative marine bacterium that may cause local wound infection, distinctive soft tissue infection, gastroenteritis and septicaemia with a high mortality rate. A healthy man presented with severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea and fever followed by development of multiple blisters, cellulitis and necrotizing fasciitis of the lower limbs, who progressed rapidly to fulminant...

Two children with severe septic shock are reported. One had meningococcal septicaemia and the other Escherichia coli septicaemia. They remained hypotensive despite high concentrations of conventional inotropes and vasopressors. In one child, using a pulmonary artery catheter, extended haemodynamic variables were measured. To restore blood pressure, in both cases, an infusion of angiotensin II w...

A case of overwhelming pneumococcal septicaemia in a 34 year old man with coeliac disease and hyposplenism is reported. This previously unrecorded complication was fatal despite prompt treatment.

Septicaemia due to hypervirulent (HV) Klebsiella pneumoniae is the leading cause of neonatal pup mortality in endangered New Zealand sea lions ( Phocarctos hookeri ) at Enderby Island, sub-Antarctic. Accounting for approximately 60% annual this site following an epizootic event 2001–02, HV K. also emerging worldwide as a significant community-acquired human pathogen. To facilitate efficient dir...

Two patients are described who developed septicaemia with Shigella flexneri following renal transplantation. Pre-operative screening had not identified either patient as a chronic carrier of Shigella sp. The acute management and problems posed by unrecognized carriers amongst patients undergoing transplantation in areas of the world where Shigella is endemic, are discussed.

The clinical and microbiological features of a case of septicaemia due to Corynebacterium haemolyticum are described. Isolation of the organism from blood cultures taken at the time of admission, immediate response to penicillin, presence of agglutinating antibodies in high titre in the patient's serum, and our failure to find evidence of infection with any other pathogen suggests a causative r...

This report describes a young woman with ulcerative colitis who developed rapidly fatal pneumococcal septicaemia. Necropsy revealed splenic atrophy. This case supports the hypothesis that splenic atrophy might contribute to the morbidity of ulcerative colitis. The occurrence of splenic atrophy in ulcerative colitis is now well established. Splenic atrophy from other causes has been associated w...