A Report of Two Clinical Coinfections with Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in Infantile Dysentery

Abstract

Introduction: Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) and Campylobacter coli (C. coli) are the most common campylobacter species related to human gastroenteritis. Due to their large similarity, these two species are not differentiated in laboratories. In this report, the coinfection with C. jejuni and C. coli was studied in two pediatric patients. The aim of the present report was to determine if simultaneous coinfection with C. jejuni and C. coli, with different antibiotic profiles, could happen. Case Presentation: In the present report, two patients clinically diagnosed with bacillary dysentery, showing fever and pus in their stool and undergoing treatment with cotrimoxazole, were microbiologically investigated through the modified Gram stain, culture and duplex PCR for diagnosing C. jejuni and C. coli. Based on microbiological and molecular results, coinfection with C. jejuni and C. coli were determined in both patients. Campylobacters isolated from patients were resistant to erythromycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, gentamicin, and nalidixic acid. Also, in both patients, C. jejuni was sensitive to cotrimoxazole and ceftriaxone. In contrast, isolated C. coli were resistant to cotrimoxazole and sensitive to ceftriaxone. Conclusions: The two patients were simultaneously infected with C. jejuni and C. coli and both were carried all the antibiotic resistant genes under study. In spite of the sensitivity of C. jejuni to cotrimoxazole, no improvement was observed for C. coli due to its resistance to this antibiotic. This finding emphasizes on the important role of microbiology investigation once empirical therapy is needed. This issue must be taken seriously in pediatric hospitals.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with the occurrence of Campylobacter sp. in children aged 6–24 months in peri-urban Nairobi, Kenya

“…Coinfections were mainly detected among samples which showed swarming growth characteristics during culture, and it was therefore difficult to pick a single colony for subculturing. Co-infections have been described in other studies ( 27 ). Co-occurrence of four Campylobacter species in stool from asymptomatic children aged below 2 years was also recorded in children from Ethiopia ( 28 ).…”