First Case of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Infection in a Human

Abstract

We present the first clinical report of a Staphylococcus pseudintermedius infection in a human. Biochemically, S. pseudintermedius can be easily misidentified as S. aureus. Therefore, the final microbiological identification requires the combination of phenotypic and genotypic tests. CASE REPORTA 60-year-old male patient was referred to our center because of ischemic cardiomyopathy and ventricle tachycardia, for which he had received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in January 2004. In addition, his medical history comprised arterial hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and a prostate carcinoma. In August 2005, he presented with complaints of migration of the ICD device. No other symptoms of note were elicited. The patient was hemodynamically stable and afebrile (body temperature of 36.7°C). Hematological investigations revealed a hemoglobin level and platelet and leukocyte counts within the normal ranges. His C-reactive protein level was slightly increased, at 1.61 mg/liter (normal, 0 to 5 mg/liter). Clinical examination revealed a perforation of the ICD pocket. Infection was suspected by the presence of pus in the eroded pocket. The infected ICD was surgically removed, and several samples (the ventricular lead, pus, and a tissue sample from the pocket) were sent for culture.Gram staining of the pus showed gram-positive cocci. The specimens were plated onto sheep blood agar (BioMérieux, Benelux S.A./N.V.) and chocolate agar (BioMérieux), both incubated at 37°C in air supplemented with 5% CO 2 , and mannitol salt lipovitellinase agar (homemade), MacConkey agar (BioMérieux), and D-Coccosel agar (BioMérieux), all incubated at 37°C in air. In addition, thioglycolate broth (BD, Belgium) was inoculated and incubated at 37°C in air.

Catheter-Related Bacteremia Caused by Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Refractory to Antibiotic-Lock Therapy in a Hemophilic Child with Dog Exposure

“…The isolates exhibited positive PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the 320-bp fragment in the pta gene, which was compatible with the identification of S. pseudintermedius (1). These isolates were resistant to polymyxin E (10-g colistin disk) by the disk diffusion method, which was also in accordance with the identification of S. pseudintermedius (6). The MICs of these isolates to penicillin, oxacillin, ciprofloxacin, and vancomycin had identical values of Ͼ0.25 g/ml, Յ0.25 g/ml, Յ0.25 g/ml, and Յ1 g/ml, respectively, as determined by the Phoenix automated system.…”

“…S. pseudintermedius is one of the most common pathogens isolated from skin and ear infections in dogs (3)(4)(5). Van Hoovels et al (6) reported the first case of S. pseudintermedius human infection in 2006. This pathogen was isolated from an infected implantable cardioverter defibrillator from a patient without animal contact history (6).…”

Evaluation of Susceptibility Test Breakpoints Used to Predict mecA-Mediated Resistance in Staphylococcus Pseudintevmedius Isolated from Dogs

“…18 Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is occasionally isolated from humans, and zoonotic transfer from dogs has been implicated. 6,12,22,23 There are currently no recommendations for interpretation of oxacillin susceptibility tests performed on human isolates of coagulase-positive staphylococci other than S. aureus. 8 However, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI; formerly National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards) recently recommended that oxacillin susceptibility of S. pseudintermedius and other veterinary isolates of coagulase-positive staphylococci be determined using breakpoints equivalent to those recommended for human and veterinary isolates of S. aureus.…”

Distribution of coagulase-positive staphylococci in humans and dogs

“…Transmission of pathogenic staphylococci may occur between pets and owners. There have been several recent reports describing the carriage of indistinguishable coagulase-positive staphylococci strains in humans and animals (Van Hoovels et al 2006;Hanselman et al 2009). …”