Dog-bite induced sepsis: a report of four cases

Abstract

Occasionally, a dog-bite is complicated by a systemic overwhelming infection. We report four consecutive patients who were admitted to our intensive care unit because of sepsis syndrome following dog-bites. The history of these patients did not reveal any immunocompromising conditions. Capnocytophaga canimorsus (C. canimorsus) was cultured from the blood culture of 2 patients. Our data illustrate that in patients with lack of immune-deficiency severe sepsis may develop.

Microbiology of Animal Bite Wound Infections

“…Capnocytophaga canimorsus has been implicated as a pathogenic agent in a variety of clinical conditions such as septicemia, purpura fulminans, peripheral gangrene, endocarditis, and meningitis following dog bites (116,139,158,166,178,189). Although fulminant infections with Capnocytophaga canimorsus after a dog bite have been reported for immunocompetent patients (116), it appears that immunocompromised patients (e.g., those who have undergone splenectomy and those with liver disease, etc.) are most susceptible to this type of infection and its complications (139,166,178,189).…”

Capnocytophaga cynodegmi in a Rottweiler Dog with Severe Bronchitis and Foreign-Body Pneumonia

“…The name cynodegmi is derived from the Greek kyno (dog) and degmos (bite). C. cynodegmi has been found in the saliva, gingival crevices, and nasal cavities of 16% of dogs and 18% of cats (6, on May 12, 2018 by guest http://jcm.asm.org/ 8,11,14,17,22), which helps to explain why up to 80% of the reports of this organism involve dogs biting people (9,13). The patient afflicted with Capnocytophaga infection in this report is a dog, which to our knowledge has not been previously reported.…”

“…cynodegmi, formerly known as CDC dysgonic fermenter-2-like, is a fastidious aerobic, capnophilic, gram-negative, fusiform bacillus that is about 2 to 4 m long and can be slightly curved at the end (1,3,5,11,13,14,16,20). The name cynodegmi is derived from the Greek kyno (dog) and degmos (bite).…”

“…Some Capnocytophaga sp. infections have been associated with other types of close animal contact, raising the concern of zoonotic potential (10,11,14,17,19,22). C. cynodegmi typically causes localized cellulitis of various severities (9,13,15,16,19).…”

“…Cultures submitted to the UCD VMTH microbiology laboratory are routinely cultured for 5 days in 5% CO 2 unless other conditions are specified. In some cases, growth of Capnocytophaga from lesions may be missed due the polymicrobial nature of most infected bites or foreign body lesions as other organisms may grow more quickly (11). As the name implies, the organism is capnophilic, and though there are subtle differences in reported growth conditions, all sources agree that a 5% CO 2 -enriched atmosphere improves growth (1,3,8,11,13,14,19,20).…”