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. 1980 Mar;11(3):278–280. doi: 10.1128/jcm.11.3.278-280.1980

Lactose-positive Vibrio in seawater: a cause of pneumonia and septicemia in a drowning victim.

M T Kelly, D M Avery
PMCID: PMC273379  PMID: 7381003

Abstract

Lactose-positive Vibrio is a recently recognized marine organism that has pathogenic potential for humans. An organism was isolated from the sputum and blood of a man who was resuscitated after drowning in the sea. The isolates from both sources had the characteristics of lactose-positive Vibrio, which include positive oxidase, citrate, indole, and o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside reactions and negative Voges-Proskauer, urease, and sucrose reactions. Seawater samples from 21 sites around Galveston Island were cultured for lactose-positive Vibrio over a period of 4 weeks, and 36% of the samples yielded the organism. The environmental isolates were very similar to the clinical isolates in biochemical reactions and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. The results indicate that lactose-positive Vibrio is a common organism in the marine environment and that it should be considered in the diagnosis of infections, including pneumonia, associated with exposure to the sea.

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Selected References

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

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