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Case Report

Case Report: Case Series of Kocuria palustris Bacteremia among Immunocompromised Patients

Gerlin Varghese Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

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Ashima Jamwal Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

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Deepika Sarawat Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

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Chinmoy Sahu Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

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Sangram Singh Patel Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

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Nidhi Tejan Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.23-0377
Volume/Issue:
Volume 109: Issue 5
Page(s):
1113–1117
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ABSTRACT.

Kocuria species are normal commensals of the skin that have been found in various environmental niches and are usually considered nonpathogenic. However, according to recent literature, Kocuria spp. have been associated with human infections. Kocuria palustris is an emerging opportunistic pathogen with great potential to cause disease in immunocompromised patients. The isolation and identification of this pathogen is necessary, as timely treatment with the appropriate antibiotics can help in reducing mortality among these patients. We present three cases of bacteremia in immunocompromised patients admitted to our hospital; one patient was receiving chemotherapy for gall bladder carcinoma, the second was on maintenance hemodialysis for chronic kidney disease, and the third was receiving chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia. All three patients presented with a fever in the setting of neutropenia during the course of treatment with chemotherapy (in Cases 1 and 3) or hemodialysis (in Case 2). The blood culture samples of all the patients had pure isolates of Kocuria species K. palustris, which was identified by matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation- time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS). All three patients presented with febrile neutropenia during the course of treatment with chemotherapy (in Cases 1 and 3) or hemodialysis (in Case 2).

Author Notes

Authors’ addresses: Gerlin Varghese, Ashima Jamwal, Deepika Sarawat, Chinmoy Sahu, Sangram Singh Patel, and Nidhi Tejan, Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India, E-mails: gerlinvarghese20@gmail.com, ashi.jamwal@gmail.com, docdeepika14@gmail.com, chinmoyresearch@gmail.com, sangramresearch968@gmail.com, and nidhiresearchsgpgi@gmail.com.

Address correspondence to Nidhi Tejan, Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226014, India. E-mail: nidhiresearchsgpgi@gmail.com
Copyright:
© American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2023
Received:
07 Jun 2023
|
Accepted:
03 Aug 2023
|
Published Online:
18 Sep 2023
Cover The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Print ISSN:
0002-9637
Online ISSN:
1476-1645
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