Lab Med Online.  2016 Jul;6(3):187-190. 10.3343/lmo.2016.6.3.187.

A Case of Septic Shock Following Catheter-related Infection Caused by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis in an Adult

• Bae TW
• Lee J
• Lee HS
• Cho YG

• KMID: 2308736
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/lmo.2016.6.3.187

Abstract

Lactococcus lactis is a gram-positive cocci used extensively in the dairy industry, but considered an unusual pathogen in humans. Among its five subspecies, L. lactis subsp. lactis in particular has rarely been reported as a pathogen. We report a case of septic shock caused by L. lactis subsp. lactis in an adult patient. A 64-yr-old male patient was admitted to outpatient clinics, with chief complaints of fever and chills for one week after convalescent hospital admission. He had severe ileus requiring surgery. He had a peripherally inserted central catheter from convalescent hospital, which was immediately removed. From two sets of blood and catheter tip cultures, we identified L. lactis subsp. lactis using the Vitek 2 system (bioMerieux Inc., USA), and confirmed this result by 16S rRNA sequencing. The patient was empirically treated with ciprofloxacin, and he recovered and was discharged.

Keyword

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis; Catheter-related infections; Septic shock

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Catheter-Related Infections*
Catheters
Chills
Ciprofloxacin
Fever
Gram-Positive Cocci
Hospitals, Convalescent
Humans
Ileus
Lactococcus lactis*
Lactococcus*
Male
Shock, Septic*
Ciprofloxacin

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