Clinical and Microbiological Characteristics of Patients with Desulfovibrio spp. Bacteremia in a Japanese Tertiary Hospital: A Case Series

Abstract

We retrospectively analyzed nine cases of Desulfovibrio spp. bacteremia at a Japanese tertiary hospital: five cases were caused by D. fairfieldensis and four by D. desulfuricans (three MB and one Essex 6 genotype). Intra-abdominal infection was the most common source of infection. Only the D. desulfuricans Essex 6 isolate was identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The remaining isolates required 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Clinicians should suspect Desulfovibrio spp. infection when curved Gram-negative bacilli are recovered from anaerobic blood cultures after 3-5 days because these species often cannot be identified by MALDI-TOF MS.