Sphingobacterium multivorum: An Atypical Bacterium in an Atypical Place

Authors

• Hadrian Pernas-Pardavila Department of Internal Medicine, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• Aldara-María Vallejo-Alonso Department of Microbiology, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• Ignacio Novo-Veleiro Department of Internal Medicine, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• Daniel Navarro-de-la-Cruz Department of Microbiology, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• Arturo Gonzalez-Quintela Department of Internal Medicine, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

ignacio.novo.veleiro@gmail.com

Keywords

Abstract

We present the case of a 75-year-old woman admitted to hospital because of an infected pressure ulcer. Cultures revealed that the responsible bacterium was Sphingobacterium multivorum, which was successfully eradicated with ciprofloxacin. Over the last few years, there have been reports of new cases of infection caused by bacteria previously not thought to be harmful to humans, like S. multivorum. Previous cases were reported mostly in immunosuppressed patients and the present report is, to our knowledge, the first describing a pressure ulcer infected by this bacterium.