<b><i>Clostridium septicum</i></b>: An Unusual Link to a Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed

Abstract

Clostridium septicum is a highly virulent pathogen which is associated with colorectal malignancy, hematological malignancy, immunosuppression, diabetes mellitus and cyclical neutropenia. Presentation may include disseminated clostridial infection in the form of septicemia, gas gangrene, and mycotic aortic aneurysms. We report the case of a 62-year-old female presenting with necrotizing fasciitis of her left thigh and subsequently developing rectal bleeding. While she was being treated with empiric antibiotics, her blood culture was found to be positive for C. septicum. We would like to highlight the importance of early colorectal cancer screening in minimizing the occurrence of undetected tumors which provide an optimal growth environment for C. septicum, leading to localized and/or remote infection.

Fatal Neutropenic Colitis and Clostridium Septicum Bacteremia in a Breast Cancer Patient

“…Clostridium septicum is a highly virulent pathogen which is associated with colorectal malignancy, hematological malignancy, immunosuppression, diabetes mellitus and cyclical neutropenia. Clinical presentation of the infection may include sepsis, gas gangrene, and mycotic aortic aneurysms ( Jessamy et al, 2016). Also, it is well known that clostridial bacteremia is associated with substantial mortality reaching 20% in cancer patients and C. septicum is the second most common cause of clostridial bacteremia in patients with solid tumours (Hammond et al, 2014).…”

Comparative efficacy of antibiotics in treating experimental Clostridium septicum infection

“…In humans, C. septicum causes fatal traumatic and atraumatic myonecrotic gas gangrene infections. Spontaneous C. septicum infections are rare and commonly associated with neutropenia, diabetes mellitus and immunosuppression [16]. However, the most common predisposing factors for spontaneous C. septicum infections are hematological and colorectal malignancies.…”

Vaccine Production to Protect Animals Against Pathogenic Clostridia

“…In humans, spontaneous myonecrosis has been associated with damaged intestinal walls and several other factors, such as occult or known malignancy, leukemia, clinical neutropenia, drug immunosuppression, diabetes, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, which might generate the conditions that allow bacteria proliferation [211,212,213,214]. The disease has higher mortality rates than other clostridial infections [215,216], with death occurring in the first 24 h [217].…”