Donor-Derived Mycoplasma hominis and an Apparent Cluster of M. hominis Cases in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients.

BACKGROUND: Invasive and disseminated Mycoplasma hominis infections are well recognized but uncommon complications in solid organ transplant recipients. In a single center, a cluster of M. hominis infections were identified in lung transplant recipients from the same thoracic intensive care unit (ICU). We sought to determine the source(s) of these infections. METHODS: Medical records of the donor and infected transplant recipients were reviewed for clinical characteristics. Clinical specimens underwent routine processing with subculture on Mycoplasma-specific Hayflick agar. Mycoplasma hominis identification was confirmed using sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Mycoplasma hominis isolates were subjected to whole-genome sequencing on the Illumina NextSeq platform. RESULTS: Three lung transplant recipients presented with invasive M. hominis infections at multiple sites characterized by purulent infections without organisms detected by Gram staining. Each patient had a separate donor; however, pretransplant bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was only available from the donor for patient 1, which subsequently grew M. hominis. Phylo- and pangenomic analyses indicated that the isolates from the donor and the corresponding recipient (patient 1) were closely related and formed a distinct single clade. In contrast, isolates from patients 2 and 3 were unrelated and divergent from one another. CONCLUSIONS: Mycoplasma hominis should be considered a cause of donor-derived infection. Genomic data suggest donor-to-recipient transmission of M. hominis. Additional patients co-located in the ICU were found to have genetically unrelated M. hominis isolates, excluding patient-to-patient transmission.

Chronic cutaneous ulcers secondary to Haemophilus ducreyi infection.

Haemophilus ducreyi is a well recognised causative agent of genital ulcers and chancroid. We report two unusual cases of non-sexually transmitted H. ducreyi infection leading to chronic lower limb ulcers. Both patients were Australian expatriates visiting Australia from the Pacific Islands--one from Papua New Guinea and the other from Vanuatu.

Characterization of a novicida-like subspecies of Francisella tularensis isolated in Australia.

Francisella tularensis is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, where it is associated with the disease of tularaemia in animals and humans. The isolation and identification is reported of a novicida-like subspecies of F. tularensis from a foot wound sustained in brackish water in the Northern Territory of Australia.