ABSTRACT
Staphylococcus pettenkoferi is a coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) of growing concern. As CoNS could be an important cause of infections in hospitalized patients, especially in immunocompromised patients, accurate identification is critical to timely and effective treatment. In the past, S. pettenkoferi was not identifed by conventional methods or was misidentified as another Staphylococcus species or another genus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of S. pettenkoferi identified using Vitek MS (bioMérieux, France). Two patients admitted to our hospital were confirmed to have bacteremia caused by S. pettenkoferi, which was identified in blood cultures using Vitek MS (bioMérieux). Therefore, we recommend using the Vitek MS (bioMérieux) for rapid and accurate identification of the pathogen causing bloodstream infection when CoNS is suspected.
Subject(s)
Humans , Bacteremia , Immunocompromised Host , StaphylococcusABSTRACT
Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are reported to be the leading cause of nosocomial bloodstream infections. Staphylococcus pettenkoferi is a novel member of CoNS that was first isolated from the human blood and bursitis wound in 2002. We have reported cases of 6 S. pettenkoferi strains isolated from blood specimens, including one pathogen and 5 contaminants and catheter colonizers. Brucker Biotyper (Brucker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany) and molecular typing with 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed the 6 isolates as S. pettenkoferi. The conventional phenotypic identification of these isolates is not reliable owing to their inconsistent biochemical characteristics. Five of the 6 isolates were found to be resistant to oxacillin, and all isolates showed susceptibility to vancomycin and linezolid. For accurate identification of this novel species, advanced methods by using Brucker Biotyper or molecular methods such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing are required.
Subject(s)
Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , DNA, Bacterial/chemistry , Drug Resistance, Bacterial/drug effects , Linezolid/pharmacology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Oxacillin/pharmacology , Phenotype , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Staphylococcal Infections/drug therapy , Staphylococcus/drug effects , Vancomycin/pharmacologyABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Staphylococcus pettenkoferi was originally isolated and described by Trülzsch et al (2002). In this study, we characterized two isolates of this newly described species. METHODS: Blood cultures were initially processed using the BacT/ALERT® device, and the isolates were initially characterized using the Vitek2 identification system. RESULTS: The initial characterization revealed slow-growing Gram-positive cocci that formed opaque colonies on sheep blood agar. Other phenotypic/genotypic tests were performed. CONCLUSIONS: We would like to emphasize that this new staphylococcus species is phenotypically similar to other CoNS, especially S. auricularis. This could potentially lead to misidentification of these uncommon species.
INTRODUÇÃO: Staphylococcus pettenkoferi foi originalmente isolado e descrito por Trülzsch et al (2002). Neste estudo, caracterizamos dois isolados dessa nova espécie. MÉTODOS: As hemoculturas foram inicialmente processadas usando o instrumento BacT/ALERT® e os isolados foram inicialmente caracterizados pelo sistema de identificação Vitek2. RESULTADOS: A caracterização inicial revelou um coco Gram-positivo de crescimento lento com formação de colônias opacas em agar sangue de carneiro. Outros testes fenotípicos/genotípicos foram realizados. CONCLUSÕES: Gostaríamos de enfatizar que esta nova espécie de Staphylococcus é fenotipicamente similar a outros CoNS, especialmente, S. auricularis, que poderia levar a um erro na identificação dessas espécies incomuns.