Journal List > Lab Med Online > v.6(3) > 1057316

Bae, Lee, Lee, and Cho: A Case of Septic Shock Following Catheter-related Infection Caused by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis in an Adult

Abstract

Lactococcus lactis is a gram-positive cocci used extensively in the dairy industry, but considered an unusual pathogen in humans. Among its five subspecies, L. lactis subsp. lactis in particular has rarely been reported as a pathogen. We report a case of septic shock caused by L. lactis subsp. lactis in an adult patient. A 64-yr-old male patient was admitted to outpatient clinics, with chief complaints of fever and chills for one week after convalescent hospital admission. He had severe ileus requiring surgery. He had a peripherally inserted central catheter from convalescent hospital, which was immediately removed. From two sets of blood and catheter tip cultures, we identified L. lactis subsp. lactis using the Vitek 2 system (bioMerieux Inc., USA), and confirmed this result by 16S rRNA sequencing. The patient was empirically treated with ciprofloxacin, and he recovered and was discharged.

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Table 1.
Cases of L. lactis subsp. lactis-associated infections reported to date
Year Age Sex Site of infection Exposure to unpasteur-ized milk products Treatment Outcome Immune status
2006 [15] 55 M Endocarditis Not reported Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid with surgery At 3 months of followup, symptom free Normal
2010 [7] 1 F Catheter-related None Vancomycin Improved after 2 days; clear- Preterm with small gestational
      bacteremia     ance of bacteremia without removal of catheter age; short bowel syndrome
2014 [8] 1 M Catheter-related bacteremia None Vancomycin Continued to improve without removal of the central venous catheter t Down's syndrome and Hirschprung's disease

Abbreviations: M, male; F, Female

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