Vibrio vulnificus septicemia. Isolation of organism from stool and demonstration of antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence

Abstract

Vibrio vulnificus was isolated from blood and stool cultures from a 65-year-old man who had underlying alcoholic liver disease. The patient had eaten raw oysters the day before he became ill. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of isolation of the organism from stool in a patient with primary septicemia, and it provides support for epidemiologic studies suggesting that the infection is acquired through the gastrointestinal tract by eating raw seafood containing the organism. It was also possible, in this case, to demonstrate the presence of high antibody titers to the blood isolate by indirect immunofluorescence but not by agglutinating or vibriocidal tests.

Current perspectives on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of clinically significant Vibrio spp

“…Except for studies of Shimada and Sakazaki (173,174) (139) have demonstrated the presence of bactericidal and opsonizing antibody in the serum of a patient who was treated for, and survived, a serious infection with V. vulnificus. Antibodies to the homologous isolate have also been demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence in a patient with V. vulnificus septicemia (156). According to Morris and Black (135), antibody response to non-O1 V. cholerae has not been demonstrated, and data are lacking for other species.…”

The cytolysin gene of Vibrio vulnificus: sequence and relationship to the Vibrio cholerae E1 Tor hemolysin gene

“…The mortality rate among patients who are hypotensive within 24 h of hospital admission exceeds 90% (6). Three-quarters of the patients with septicemia have characteristic bullous skin lesions (2,6,10) with histological findings compatible with a toxin-mediated process (13).…”

Cloning of the cytotoxin-hemolysin gene of Vibrio vulnificus

“…Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Las Vegas, Nev., 3 to 7 March 1985.) DNA from V. vulnificus EDL-174 (isolated from a patient with septicemia [15]) was used to construct a genomic library. Chromosomal DNA was purified on a CsCl gradient, partially digested with Sau3A (Bethesda Research Laboratories, Inc.), and size fractionated on a sucrose gradient, as described by Hull et al (5).…”