Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1996 Aug;34(8):1908–1913. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.8.1908-1913.1996

Clinical and microbiological characteristics of Flavobacterium indologenes infections associated with indwelling devices.

P R Hsueh 1, L J Teng 1, S W Ho 1, W C Hsieh 1, K T Luh 1
PMCID: PMC229151  PMID: 8818879

Abstract

Clinical infections caused by Flavobacterium indologenes have never been documented. Thirteen isolates derived from seven patients with indwelling device-associated F. indologenes infections were identified from 1 April through 30 November 1995. The antimicrobial susceptibilities to 20 antimicrobial agents of the isolates, the cellular fatty acid chromatograms for the isolates, and the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns generated by arbitrarily primed PCR of the isolates were studied. The antibiotypes and RAPD patterns differed among the isolates recovered from different patients. However, both antibiotypes and RAPD patterns were identical among the five isolates from one patient with multiple episodes of central venous catheter-associated bacteremia within a 1.5-month period and between the two isolates from another patient suffering from two episodes of catheter-related bacteriuria at an interval of 14 days. It is documented that the recurrent infections in each of these two patients were caused by a single F. indologenes clone, respectively. Identical antibiotypes and RAPD patterns were also demonstrated between two isolates from a patient with ventilator-associated pneumonia, one recovered from an endotracheal aspirate and the other derived from a blood specimen 10 days later, indicating the invasive nature of F. indologenes. Two cellular fatty acid chromatograms were identified among these isolates. All of the isolates showed in vitro resistance to cephalothin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, moxalactam, aztreonam, aminoglycosides, erythromycin, clindamycin, vancomycin, and teicoplanin. F. indologenes should be included as an etiologic agent of infections associated with the use of indwelling devices.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (380.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aber R. C., Wennersten C., Moellering R. C., Jr Antimicrobial susceptibility of flavobacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1978 Sep;14(3):483–487. doi: 10.1128/aac.14.3.483. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CABRERA H. A., DAVIS G. H. Epidemic meningitis of the newborn caused by flavobacteria. I. Epidemiology and bacteriology. Am J Dis Child. 1961 Mar;101:289–295. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1961.04020040017004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chatelut M., Dournes J. L., Chabanon G., Marty N. Epidemiological typing of Stenotrophomonas (Xanthomonas) maltophilia by PCR. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Apr;33(4):912–914. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.4.912-914.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dees S. B., Moss C. W., Hollis D. G., Weaver R. E. Chemical characterization of Flavobacterium odoratum, Flavobacterium breve, and Flavobacterium-like groups IIe, IIh, and IIf. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Feb;23(2):267–273. doi: 10.1128/jcm.23.2.267-273.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dickinson G. M., Bisno A. L. Infections associated with indwelling devices: concepts of pathogenesis; infections associated with intravascular devices. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1989 May;33(5):597–601. doi: 10.1128/aac.33.5.597. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dickinson G. M., Bisno A. L. Infections associated with indwelling devices: infections related to extravascular devices. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1989 May;33(5):602–607. doi: 10.1128/aac.33.5.602. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GEORGE R. M., COCHRAN C. P., WHEELER W. E. Epidemic meningitis of the newborn caused by flavobacteria. II. Clinical manifestations and treatment. Am J Dis Child. 1961 Mar;101:296–304. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1961.04020040024005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Harvey W. H., Pick T. E., Reed K., Solenberger R. I. A prospective evaluation of the Port-A-Cath implantable venous access system in chronically ill adults and children. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1989 Dec;169(6):495–500. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jorgensen J. H., Maher L. A., Howell A. W. Activity of meropenem against antibiotic-resistant or infrequently encountered gram-negative bacilli. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1991 Nov;35(11):2410–2414. doi: 10.1128/aac.35.11.2410. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Khatib R., Riederer K. M., Clark J. A., Khatib S., Briski L. E., Wilson F. M. Coagulase-negative staphylococci in multiple blood cultures: strain relatedness and determinants of same-strain bacteremia. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Apr;33(4):816–820. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.4.816-820.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mobley H. L., Chippendale G. R., Tenney J. H., Hull R. A., Warren J. W. Expression of type 1 fimbriae may be required for persistence of Escherichia coli in the catheterized urinary tract. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Dec;25(12):2253–2257. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.12.2253-2257.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Moss C. W., Dees S. B. Cellular fatty acids of Flavobacterium meningosepticum and Flavobacterium species group IIb. J Clin Microbiol. 1978 Dec;8(6):772–774. doi: 10.1128/jcm.8.6.772-774.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pedersen M. M., Marso E., Pickett M. J. Nonfermentative bacilli associated with man. 3. Pathogenicity and antibiotic susceptibility. Am J Clin Pathol. 1970 Aug;54(2):178–192. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/54.2.178. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Raimondi A., Moosdeen F., Williams J. D. Antibiotic resistance pattern of Flavobacterium meningosepticum. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Aug;5(4):461–463. doi: 10.1007/BF02075710. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rizzari C., Palamone G., Corbetta A., Uderzo C., Viganò E. F., Codecasa G. Central venous catheter-related infections in pediatric hematology-oncology patients: role of home and hospital management. Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 1992 Apr-Jun;9(2):115–123. doi: 10.3109/08880019209018327. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Salata R. A., Lederman M. M., Shlaes D. M., Jacobs M. R., Eckstein E., Tweardy D., Toossi Z., Chmielewski R., Marino J., King C. H. Diagnosis of nosocomial pneumonia in intubated, intensive care unit patients. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987 Feb;135(2):426–432. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1987.135.2.426. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Siegman-Igra Y., Schwartz D., Soferman G., Konforti N. Flavobacterium group IIb bacteremia: report of a case and review of Flavobacterium infections. Med Microbiol Immunol. 1987;176(2):103–111. doi: 10.1007/BF00200682. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Stamm W. E., Colella J. J., Anderson R. L., Dixon R. E. Indwelling arterial catheters as a source of nosocomial bacteremia. An outbreak caused by Flavobacterium Species. N Engl J Med. 1975 May 22;292(21):1099–1102. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197505222922105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Strandberg D. A., Jorgensen J. H., Drutz D. J. Activities of aztreonam and new cephalosporins against infrequently isolated gram-negative bacilli. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1983 Aug;24(2):282–286. doi: 10.1128/aac.24.2.282. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Warren J. W. Providencia stuartii: a common cause of antibiotic-resistant bacteriuria in patients with long-term indwelling catheters. Rev Infect Dis. 1986 Jan-Feb;8(1):61–67. doi: 10.1093/clinids/8.1.61. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Warren J. W., Tenney J. H., Hoopes J. M., Muncie H. L., Anthony W. C. A prospective microbiologic study of bacteriuria in patients with chronic indwelling urethral catheters. J Infect Dis. 1982 Dec;146(6):719–723. doi: 10.1093/infdis/146.6.719. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wesenberg F., Flaatten H., Janssen C. W., Jr Central venous catheter with subcutaneous injection port (Port-A-Cath): 8 years clinical follow up with children. Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 1993 Jul-Sep;10(3):233–239. doi: 10.3109/08880019309029489. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Williams J. G., Kubelik A. R., Livak K. J., Rafalski J. A., Tingey S. V. DNA polymorphisms amplified by arbitrary primers are useful as genetic markers. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Nov 25;18(22):6531–6535. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.22.6531. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Yabuuchi E., Hashimoto Y., Ezaki T., Ido Y., Takeuchi N. Genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of Flavobacterium indologenes Yabuuchi et al 1983 from Flavobacterium gleum Holmes et al 1984. Microbiol Immunol. 1990;34(1):73–76. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1990.tb00993.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES