Preety Mishra1, Dipti Pattnaik2, Kalpana Mund3, Subhra Snigdha Panda4, Smrutilata Sahoo5, Jagadananda Jena6
BACKGROUND
Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is an emerging pathogen causing meningitis,
pneumonia, endocarditis, bacteremia, sepsis, wound & soft tissue infections,
abdominal, respiratory and ocular infections, dialysis associated peritonitis and
prosthesis associated septic arthritis, especially in immunodeficient hosts of
various age groups. The prevalence of nosocomial infection by E. meningoseptica
has increased, predominantly in patients with invasive procedures, prior use of
broad-spectrum antimicrobial and co-morbid conditions. We wanted to determine
the prevalence of Elizabethkingia meningoseptica among the clinical samples
processed in our laboratory and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern.
METHODS
This observational study was conducted in patients admitted to a tertiary care
hospital, from October 2017 to October 2020. The study subjects were selected
on positive bacterial culture reports after excluding patients of less than 18 years
of age and their demographic and clinical features were obtained from their
medical records. Blood samples were processed by BacT/Alert. VITEK-2 system
was used to identify the bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern.
RESULTS
Among the 3532 clinical samples processed, 16 (0.45 %) bacterial isolates were
Elizabethkingia meningoseptica. Out of them, 5 (31.25 %) were from blood and
11 (68.75 %) were from endotracheal tubes. More number of cases 6 (38 %) were
seen in the age group of 61 - 70 years. Most of the patients were on mechanical
ventilation with common co-morbid condition associated was cardiovascular
diseases 11 (68 %). E. meningoseptica was most often sensitive to nalidixic acid
and ciprofloxacin (50 %), tigecycline 4 (30 %), minocycline 3 (18 %),
cotrimoxazole 2 (15 %), piperacillin-tazobactam 1 (13 %) and minocyclin (18.75
%).
CONCLUSIONS
Infection with E. meningoseptica is clinically important as the organism causes
nosocomial infection and is intrinsically resistant to multiple antibiotics, such as β-
lactams, aminoglycosides, tetracycline, tigecycline, colistin, chloramphenicol and
carbapenems. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment is required to prevent the
morbidity and mortality.
