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July 1980, Vol 134, No. 7 >
Article | July 1980

Diphtheroid Sepsis in a Child With No Predisposing Condition FREE

NONI MACDONALD, MD; KEITH R. POWELL, MD; BARBARA J. LAW, MD; GERALD A. AHRONHEIM, MD
Am J Dis Child. 1980;134(7):708-709. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1980.02130190074022.
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Diphtheroids — Corynebacterium species other than C diphtheriae—are ubiquitous organisms and rarely pathogenic. When isolated in cultures of blood and other usually sterile body sites, diphtheroids are commonly dismissed as contaminants.1 In 1978, diphtheroids accounted for 3.2% of positive blood cultures and grew from 0.2% of all blood cultures (4,000) at the Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH).

A child, recently hospitalized at the MCH for evaluation of fever of unknown origin, was discharged without a diagnosis. The growth of diphtheroids in two of seven blood cultures was dismissed as unimportant because the child did not seem to be a compromised host and no apparent nidus of infection could be found. Subsequent events proved that these diphtheroids were the cause of his illness. The purpose of this report is to encourage the critical evaluation of all isolates from normally sterile sites such as blood, CSF, and bone marrow.

Report of

REFERENCES

1 +
Johnson WD, Kaye D:  Serious infections caused by diphtheroids . Ann NY Acad Sci 174:568-576, 1970;.
2 +
Kaplan K, Weinstein L:  Diphtheroid infections in man . Ann Intern Med 70:919-929, 1969;.
3 +
Merzbach D, Freundlich E, Metzker A, et al:  Bacterial endocarditis due to Corynebacterium . J Pediatr 67:792-796, 1965;.
4 +
French RS, Ziter FA, Spruance SL, et al:  Chronic meningitis caused by Propionibacterium acnes . Neurology 24:624-628, 1974;.
5 +
Everett ED, Eickhoff TC, Simon RH:  Cerebrospinal fluid shunt infections with anaerobic diphtheroids (Propionibacterium species) . J Neurosurg 44:580-584, 1976;.
6 +
Hande KR, Witebsky FG, Brown MS, et al:  Sepsis with a new species of Corynebacterium . Ann Intern Med 85:423-426, 1976;.
7 +
Carpenter JL, Blom J:  Corynebacterium equi pneumonia in a patient with Hodgkin's disease . Am Rev Respir Dis 114:235-239, 1976;.
8 +
Pearson TA, Braine HG, Rathburn HK:  Corynebacterium sepsis in oncology patients . JAMA 238:1737-1740, 1977;.
9 +
Chilcote RR, Baehner RL:  Septicemia in association with acute lymphoblastic leukemia . J Pediatr 94:715-718, 1979;.
10 +
MacGregor RR, Beaty HN:  Evaluation of positive blood cultures . Arch Intern Med 130:84-87, 1972;.

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References

1 +
Johnson WD, Kaye D:  Serious infections caused by diphtheroids . Ann NY Acad Sci 174:568-576, 1970;.
2 +
Kaplan K, Weinstein L:  Diphtheroid infections in man . Ann Intern Med 70:919-929, 1969;.
3 +
Merzbach D, Freundlich E, Metzker A, et al:  Bacterial endocarditis due to Corynebacterium . J Pediatr 67:792-796, 1965;.
4 +
French RS, Ziter FA, Spruance SL, et al:  Chronic meningitis caused by Propionibacterium acnes . Neurology 24:624-628, 1974;.
5 +
Everett ED, Eickhoff TC, Simon RH:  Cerebrospinal fluid shunt infections with anaerobic diphtheroids (Propionibacterium species) . J Neurosurg 44:580-584, 1976;.
6 +
Hande KR, Witebsky FG, Brown MS, et al:  Sepsis with a new species of Corynebacterium . Ann Intern Med 85:423-426, 1976;.
7 +
Carpenter JL, Blom J:  Corynebacterium equi pneumonia in a patient with Hodgkin's disease . Am Rev Respir Dis 114:235-239, 1976;.
8 +
Pearson TA, Braine HG, Rathburn HK:  Corynebacterium sepsis in oncology patients . JAMA 238:1737-1740, 1977;.
9 +
Chilcote RR, Baehner RL:  Septicemia in association with acute lymphoblastic leukemia . J Pediatr 94:715-718, 1979;.
10 +
MacGregor RR, Beaty HN:  Evaluation of positive blood cultures . Arch Intern Med 130:84-87, 1972;.

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