Nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae Isolated from Intravenous Drug Users

Diversity of coryneforms found in infections following prosthetic joint insertion and open fractures

“…The third most frequent species was, surprisingly, Corynebacterium diphrheriae. Although this will be the subject of a separate report, it should be mentioned here that the biotype of all isolates except one (gravis) was mitis, and that the ribotypes and antibiogram type corresponded to those found earlier in Switzerland [12]. Table 1 also lists further coryneforrns, each of which was represented by one isolate only.…”

Antimicrobial resistance among Brazilian Corynebacterium diphtheriae strains

“…Tetracycline resistance was typical for isolates from Western Europe, Swiss intravenous drug users (Gruner et al 1992), and hospitalized diphtheria patients in Jakarta, Indonesia (Rockhill et al 1982). In previous studies, C. diphtheriae isolates from invasive infections were shown to be resistant to tetracycline and rifampicin (Patey et al 1995, Von Hunolstein et al 2002.…”

“…However, resistance to penicillin G, oxacillin, erythromycin, and other drugs including rifampicin, tetracycline, and clindamycin used in therapy of C. diphtheriae infections have been reported (Formiga et al 1971, Rockhill et al 1982, Gruner et al 1992, Maple et al 1994, Patey et al 1995, Gladin et al 1999, Von Hunolstein et al 2002. Resistance to ß-lactams should also be considered in systemic infections, since failure to eliminate C. diphtheriae in cases of endocarditis treated with penicillin have been reported.…”

Cutaneous Diphtheria in the Urban Poor Population of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: a 10-Year Review

“…Colonization may serve as a reservoir for potentially invasive disease (13). Studies examining injection drug users and impoverished patients from Switzerland and France revealed clones of nontoxigenic C. diphtheriae biotype mitis resulting in bacteremia and endocarditis (14,22).…”