pH Level as a Marker for Predicting Death among Patients withVibrio vulnificusInfection, South Korea, 2000–2011

Abstract

Initial pH level at hospital admission was the most accurate and simple predictor of death.

Vibrio vulnificus infection: a persistent threat to public health

“…Most patients with gastroenteritis or diarrheal illness in Taiwan do not seek care at the large teaching hospitals; they also do not usually have a stool culture, which might explain the lack of patients with gastrointestinal illness attributable to V. vulnificus [ 4 , 17 ]. A study on V. vulnificus infections in South Korea from 2000 to 2011 yielded clinical and epidemiological findings similar to the studies in Florida and Taiwan [ 18 ]. These three studies show a similar clinical profile, although they were conducted at different times and places ( Table 1 ).…”

“…Septicemia is one of the most common clinical problems. It is often accompanied by skin and soft tissue infections and has a > 50% mortality rate [ 16 - 18 ]. Atypical manifestations of V. vulnificus infection include pneumonia, meningoencephalitis, peritonitis, and pyogenic spondylitis [ 9 , 19 , 20 ].…”

“…The level of V. vulnificus DNA was shown to be substantially higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors of V. vulnificus septicemia, and the V. vulnificus DNA load correlated with the APACHE II score [ 18 , 47 ]. Notably, elevated tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels were found in patients with V. vulnificus sepsis compared to those in healthy individuals.…”

Clinical Usefulness of Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Diagnosis of Vibrio vulnificus Infection Using Skin and Soft Tissues

“…Therefore, in cases of V. vulnificus infection, it is critical to administer antibiotics with a high antibacterial activity against V. vulnificus soon after rapid diagnosis. 8,9 Because real-time PCR results can be obtained within 2 hours of testing, PCR can be used for rapid diagnosis. toxR, which is often used as a target gene, encodes a transmembrane DNA binding regulatory protein in Vibrio species and has been shown to have 100% specificity for Vibrio species in real-time PCR analyses.…”

Complete genome sequence of Vibrio vulnificus FORC_017 isolated from a patient with a hemorrhagic rash after consuming raw dotted gizzard shad

“…The consumption of V. vulnificus -contaminated seafood causes clinical food-borne outbreaks. In South Korea (2000–2011), 34 individuals who consumed V. vulnificus -contaminated seafood were hospitalized and 16 died, which suggests that this pathogen is widespread and highly virulent and causes food-borne outbreaks [ 6 ]. Therefore, virulence traits of this pathogen should be understood at the genomic level.…”