Summary
Background
Flavonifractor plautii is a gram-positive, strictly anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium. It belongs to the family of Clostridiales, is frequently found in the human gut microbiome and is rarely isolated in other human specimens.
Clinical presentation
We report a case of a bloodstream infection with Flavonifractor plautii following infectious colitis in a 24-year-old asplenic woman with beta thalassemia. The patient presented to our department with diarrhea, fever, and lower abdominal pain for over 1 month. F. plautii was the only organism isolated from blood cultures.
Results
The antimicrobial resistance pattern showed in vitro sensitivity to all antimicrobials used for treatment; however, in vivo treatment with amoxicillin and clavulanic acid failed. After switching to meropenem and metronidazole the patient rapidly recovered.
Conclusion
Asplenia and a damaged intestinal wall might have favored the bloodstream infection. We found similarities in attributes of the affected patients and in treatment patterns between our case and the only three other published case reports.
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References
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Acknowledgements
We are indebted to our colleagues Dr. Michaela-Nicoleta Plava and Dr. Wu **an as well as to the whole team of nurses in our department, who were involved in the treatment of this patient.
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I. Karpat, M. Karolyi, E. Pawelka, T. Seitz, F. Thaller and C. Wenisch declare that they have no competing interests.
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For this article no studies with human participants or animals were performed by any of the authors. All studies performed were in accordance with the ethical standards indicated in each case. Informed consent was obtained from the patient for publishing this case report.
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Karpat, I., Karolyi, M., Pawelka, E. et al. Flavonifractor plautii bloodstream infection in an asplenic patient with infectious colitis. Wien Klin Wochenschr 133, 724–726 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-021-01877-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-021-01877-0