Abstract
We report on two cases of Corynebacterium jeikeium bacteremia associated with induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia. The patients were 55- and 37-year-old males who were undergoing chemotherapy. C. jeikeium was detected in blood cultures of both patients during chemotherapy. As the blood cultures tested positive for the bacterium and the patients were immunologically deficient, we investigated the possibility of C. jeikeium as the causative organism. The patients were started on vancomycin (VCM) therapy, after which C. jeikeium was no longer detected; thus, treatment of the primary disease was performed. Medical technological progress increases the incidence of opportunistic infections. When C. jeikeium is detected in blood cultures, it is necessary to determine whether it is the causative organism by reviewing the patients’ background and blood culture positivity time. If it is indeed the causative organism, it is necessary to consider changing VCM to the recommended antimicrobial agent.
