Clinical Features of Clostridial Bacteremia: A Review from a Rural Area

Abstract

Blood samples, which were obtained from patients who lived in a rural area with approximately 500 acute-care hospital beds, were cultured from 1990 through 1997. We retrospectively reviewed the blood cultures that yielded Clostridium species (74 [0.12%] of 63,296 cultures). These were obtained from 46 different hospitalized patients (incidents per hospital, 0.03%). The source of the Clostridium species was a gastrointestinal site in 24 patients (52.2%). The most frequently identified Clostridium species was Clostridium perfringens (in 10 [21.7%] of patients), followed by Clostridium septicum (in 9 [19.6%]). Thirty-one patients (67.4%) were aged > or =65 years, 13 patients (28.3%) had diabetes mellitus, and underlying malignancy was present in 22 patients (47.8%). The mortality rate of patients whose condition had been managed surgically was 33%; for those patients whose conditions required medical management, the mortality rate was 58%. Clostridium bacteremia in these patients usually had a gastrointestinal source, it often occurred in patients with serious underlying medical conditions, and it rarely was the result of traumatic farm accidents.

Clinical and Epidemiological Features of Clostridium perfringens Bacteremia: A Review of 18 Cases over 8 Year-Period in a Tertiary Care Center in Metropolitan Tokyo Area in Japan

“…Patients who contract C. perfringens infections exhibit various clinical symptoms such as gastroenteritis, alimentary intoxication, gas gangrene, necrotizing enteritis, and septic shock with acute hemolysis. C. perfringens infection is considered to be the cause of many diseases in non-urban regions (1). In addition, increasing incidence of enteric transmission of C. perfringens has been reported in the city of Tokyo and the surrounding area (2).…”

Fatal case of Clostridium perfringens enteritis and bacteraemia in South Africa

“…Clostridial species are also a common cause of anaerobic bacteraemia, with C. perfringens the most commonly isolated species [1,2]. Clostridial bacteraemia is associated with high mortality rates (approaching 50%) despite appropriate medical/surgical management and antimicrobial therapy [3]. Enteritis necroticans, also called pigbel, is an often fatal type of gastrointestinal infection typically caused by C. perfringens type C, although case reports and series have described C. perfringens type A causing this disease as well [4].…”

An Atypical Clostridium Strain Related to the Clostridium botulinum Group III Strain Isolated from a Human Blood Culture

“…Clostridium account for 8 to 18% (up to 46% in some studies) of anaerobic bacteremia in adults (reviewed in reference 20). The most frequently identified Clostridium species are Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium septicum, which are often associated with a dramatic outcome (20,21). Other toxigenic clostridia might also be involved, such as Clostridium sordellii (22), to a lower extent Clostridium difficile (23), and one case of Clostridium tetani (24).…”