Lab Med Online.  2012 Jul;2(3):170-173.

Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Caused by Haemophilus influenzae in a Kidney Transplant Recipient

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. sung@amc.seoul.kr
  • 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Haemophilus influenzae has rarely been implicated as the causative agent of urinary tract infections (UTIs). However, cases of UTIs caused by H. influenza in patients with anatomical or functional urinary tract abnormalities have been steadily reported. We report a case of asymptomatic bacteriuria caused by H. influenzae in a kidney transplant recipient. The patient was a 61-yr-old woman who visited the hospital for a routine follow-up after receiving a kidney transplant from a living-related donor; the patient showed no symptoms. Urine microscopy revealed white blood cell (WBC) count of >30/high power field (HPF). Urine culture on blood agar showed non-hemolytic, tiny, translucent, grayish colonies with satellitism around beta-hemolytic colonies of Staphylococcus epidermidis. The organism in the satellite colonies was identified as H. influenzae by using VITEK Neisseria/Haemophilus Identification Card (bioMerieux, Marcy L'Etoile, France) and found to require both X and V factors for growth. The organism did not produce beta-lactamase. Urine culture performed 1 week later revealed H. influenza again. The patient was not treated with antimicrobials. Urine culture performed using chocolate agar 7 weeks later did not reveal H. influenzae. Since H. influenzae does not grow in the media commonly used for urine culture such as blood agar, the use of these media could lead to underestimation of the true frequency of H. influenzae. If UTI is suspected in a patient with anatomical or functional urinary tract abnormality, chocolate agar should be considered for urine culture.

Keyword

Haemophilus influenzae; Urinary tract infection; Asymptomatic bacteriuria; Kidney transplantation

MeSH Terms

Agar
Bacteriuria
beta-Lactamases
Cacao
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Haemophilus
Haemophilus influenzae
Humans
Influenza, Human
Kidney
Kidney Transplantation
Leukocytes
Microscopy
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Transplants
Urinary Tract
Urinary Tract Infections
Agar
beta-Lactamases

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Colonies of Haemophilus influenzae. Non-hemolytic tiny translucent grayish colonies (arrows) were observed satelliting around colonies of Staphylococcus epidermidis on blood agar.

  • Fig. 2 Use of X, V, and X+V factor disks for determining growth factor requirements. Haemophilus influenzae requires both X and V factors for growth.


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