Shewanella (Pseudomonas) putrefaciens Bacteremia

Abstract

Shewanella (Pseudomonas) putrefaciens is a rare pathogen in humans, and to our knowledge only 13 cases of S. putrefaciens bacteremia have ever been reported in the literature. In this retrospective study we describe 28 cases of S. putrefaciens bacteremia: 16 in premature and 1-day-old neonates, 9 in adults, and 3 in children younger than 1 year of age. All the babies presented with respiratory distress and/or pneumonia. Six of the adults had associated traumatic lesions of the lower extremity, and of the eight patients who died of sepsis, six were neutropenic. Polymicrobial bacteremia was seen in 18 cases. Three syndromes of bacteremic infection with S. putrefaciens appear to exist: the first is associated with prematurity and congenital pneumonia; the second with ulceration of the lower extremities; and the third (which is more fulminant), with an underlying debility. The findings in these 28 cases confirm the fact that S. putrefaciens can invade the bloodstream; however, the presence of concurrent bacteremia makes it difficult to determine the pathogenic role of this organism in septicemia.

Human Infection with Shewanella putrefaciens and S. algae: Report of 16 Cases in Martinique and Review of the Literature

“…The mean age of the patients was 50 years (range = 0-90 years, n = 154) and 49 (39%) of 127 patients were women. Some neonatal cases were reported (one study in South Africa and one case in Martinique) 28 but the elderly were overrepresented ( Table 2). The origins of the cases are shown in Table 2.…”

“…The origins of the cases are shown in Table 2. Series have been reported in some countries, and these countries were thus overrepresented: Denmark (76), 32 South Korea (33), 8 South Africa (28), 28 United States (26), 13,23,31 Taiwan (19), 31 Belgium (9), 14 and India (5). 53 Eleven percent of patients were immunocompromised (Table 3) because of cancer with chemotherapy (15), steroid use (4), splenectomy (2), neutropenia (2), human immunodeficiency virus HIV infection (1), and immunosuppressive drugs (1).…”

Nosocomial peripancreatic infection associated with Shewanella xiamenensis

“…Shewanella species are marine bacteria but have been reported as rare human pathogens (Holt et al, 2005). The most common Shewanella species associated with human infections are S. algae and S. putrefaciens (Holt et al, 2005), both of which have been identified as the cause of a variety of infections such as bacteraemia, pneumonia, meningitis and soft tissue infection (Brink et al, 1995;Jorens et al, 2004;Pagani et al, 2003;Tucker et al, 2010;Yilmaz et al, 2007). However, the species identification of previous reports was generally performed using biochemical reactions or commercially supplied automated microbiology systems.…”

Polyphasic taxonomic approach in the description of Alishewanella fetalis gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a human foetus.

“…To our knowledge Shewanella strains have not been isolated from a human foetus, but strains identified as S. putrefaciens have been isolated from premature infants (Brink et al, 1995 ;Pedersen et al, 1970). Most human clinical isolates formerly identified as S. putrefaciens do belong to a separate species, Shewanella algae (Nozue et al, 1992 ;Fonnesbech Vogel et al, 1997).…”

“…Clinical strains of S. algae have only been directly linked to cases of bacteraemia (Dominguez et al, 1996) and ear infections (Holt et al, 1997). However, strains identified as S. putrefaciens (formerly Pseudomonas putrefaciens) have sporadically been isolated from a number of clinical specimens (Gilardi, 1972 ;Brink et al, 1995 ;Kim et al, 1989). Probably most of these infections have been due to S.…”