Clinical aspects of invasive infection with Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis in elderly patients.

The number of patients with severe invasive infections (mainly exhibiting bacteremia) with Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) has been increasing worldwide. We herein report the clinical aspects of invasive infections (cellulitis, pneumonia, and urosepsis) occurring with SDSE in 13 elderly patients (mean age 84 years, range 69-99 years) diagnosed at a hospital for elderly individuals during the period January 2005-June 2009. Ten subjects had underlying diseases, including neurologic disorders, diabetes mellitus, and others. Eleven patients presented to the hospital emergency department, and the most common symptom was high fever or respiratory distress. Primary care and emergency department doctors treating elderly patients with high fever should keep in mind invasive SDSE infection as a differential diagnosis, especially when an elderly person has underlying illnesses. To detect SDSE in elderly subjects, blood cultures should be obtained before the administration of antimicrobials because, as we found, the patients' symptoms were limited.

[Molecular features of beta-hemolytic streptococci isolated from blood in adult invasive infection and the clinical background factors].

We studied the relationship between features of beta-hemolytic streptococci (n = 45) isolated from blood in adult invasive infection and the clinical background factors observed from January 2001 through August at a hospital for the elderly. The meanage of subjects having invasive streptococcal infection with 22 invasive Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis (SDSE) strains, 2 S. pyogenes isolates, and 21 S. agalactiae (GBS) was 80 years, and 85.7% and 86.4% had underly diseases in the GBS and SDSE infections. SDSE-infected were mainly emergency woman outpatients and GBS infected were mainly man inpatients. The clinical syndrome involved pneumonia, urosepsis, and cellulitis. GBS mortality was 14.3% and SDSE mortality 27.3%. Compared to survivors, nonsurvivors had more thrombocytopenia and marked serum C-reactive protein elevation when blood culture were performed. No difference was seen in white blood cell count between bath groups. Our observations suggest that blood culture should be obtained before antimicrobials administration in elderly individuals with underlying illness who are seen at the emergency department and have laboratory blood data suggestive of infectious disease.

Fatal fungal endocarditis by Aspergillus udagawae: an emerging cause of invasive aspergillosis.

Aspergillus udagawae has morphological similarities to Aspergillusfumigatus; however, it shows a low susceptibility to common antifungal drugs and poor in vitro sporulation. We present the first reported case of infectious endocarditis caused by A. udagawae. An awareness of this newly described Aspergillus species is vital for further clarification.

Prolonged Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in an elderly patient with community-acquired pneumonia.

An 81-year-old woman with no underlying systemic illness was hospitalized with fever, muscle weakness, and sputum without cough for 2 days. Chest imaging showed consolidation in the left lower lobe. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for six respiratory bacteria and 12 respiratory viruses performed on sputum obtained on admission showed Mycoplasma pneumoniae DNA, with no evidence of other pathogens. M. pneumoniae was confirmed to be the causative agent by serologic data. Variation of mycoplasma quantity in subsequent sputa was analyzed because of persistent sputum production despite treatment with minocycline. Mycoplasma DNA gradually decreased, becoming undetectable 1 week after the completion of 2 weeks of minocycline therapy. Two weeks after the completion of the minocycline therapy, mycoplasma DNA in sputum was strongly detectable again, and oral treatment with clarithromycin was initiated. No pathogen DNA was detected during 2 weeks of clarithromycin therapy or at 2 weeks after completion of this therapy. Although susceptibility tests on three isolates (on admission, 1 week after starting minocycline, and 2 weeks after minocycline cessation), showed no resistance to minocycline or clarithromycin, the infection was, nonetheless, prolonged. Some elderly subjects with mycoplasma pneumonia may show a longer course than that in young persons with pneumonia.