Pacemaker lead-related endocarditis with Neisseria sicca.

We report the first known case of Neisseria sicca-associated pacemaker lead endocarditis-a disease whose incidence and mortality are growing. A woman in her 70s with a history of transcatheter aortic valve replacement and pacemaker placement 7 months earlier presented with recurrent fevers. She visited the emergency department several times during the past 2 months for these fevers, and she had been given oral antibiotics for presumed urinary tract infections. Investigations revealed blood cultures growing N. sicca Although transthoracic echocardiogram was negative, transesophageal echocardiogram showed two vegetations on the right atrial lead which suggested pacemaker lead-associated endocarditis. A complete pacemaker and lead extraction was performed, and the patient recovered completely and was discharged home to complete 6 weeks of intravenous ceftriaxone with plans for follow-up echocardiography. We hope that this case will contribute to the growing body of literature regarding device infections, thus leading to earlier identification and treatment.

Hospital-Acquired Bloodstream Infections in Patients Hospitalized With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection (Coronavirus Disease 2019): Association With Immunosuppressive Therapies.

BACKGROUND: Immunosuppressive therapies proposed for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) management may predispose to secondary infections. We evaluated the association of immunosuppressive therapies with bloodstream-infections (BSIs) in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective, multicenter, cohort study of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 over a 5-month period. We obtained clinical, microbiologic and laboratory data from electronic medical records. Propensity-score-matching helped create balanced exposure groups. Demographic characteristics were compared across outcome groups (BSI/no BSI) using two-sample t-test and Chi-Square test for continuous and categorical variables respectively, while immunosuppressive therapy use was compared using McNemar's test. Conditional logistic regression helped assess the association between immunosuppressive therapies and BSIs. RESULTS: 13,007 patients were originally included, with propensity-score-matching producing a sample of 6,520 patients. 3.74% and 3.97% were diagnosed with clinically significant BSIs in the original and propensity-score-matched populations respectively. COVID-19 patients with BSIs had significantly longer hospitalizations, higher intensive care unit admission and mortality rates compared to those without BSIs. On univariable analysis, combinations of corticosteroids/anakinra [odds-ratio (OR) 2.00, 95% confidence intervals (C.I.) 1.05-3.80, P value.0342] and corticosteroids/tocilizumab [OR 2.13, 95% C.I. 1.16-3.94, P value .0155] were significantly associated with BSIs. On multivariable analysis (adjusting for confounders), combination corticosteroids/tocilizumab were significantly associated with any BSI [OR 1.97, 95% C.I. 1.04-3.73, P value.0386] and with bacterial BSIs [OR 2.13, 95% C.I. 1.12-4.05, p-value 0.0217]. CONCLUSIONS: Combination immunosuppressive therapies were significantly associated with BSI occurrence in COVID-19 patients; their use warrants increased BSI surveillance. Further studies are needed to establish their causative role.

Adult onset immunoglobulin A vasculitis (Henoch-Schonlein purpura) with alveolar hemorrhage.

S. pyogenes is the cause of many important human diseases, ranging from mild superficial skin infections to life-threatening systemic diseases. The post streptococcal syndromes are immune mediated phenomena including Immunoglobulin A Vasculitis (Henoch-Schönlein purpura). HSP is more common in children and usually self limited but it can cause skin, joint, renal, gastrointestinal and rarely respiratory involvement. We present a case with Streptococcus pyogenes pneumonia that presented with respiratory failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, extensive rash and renal failure.

Acremonium pneumonia in an AIDS patient.

Acremonium is a saprophytic fungus mostly causing superficial skin, nail, or ocular infections after traumatic inoculation. However, it is being recently recognized as one of the opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients including neutropenia, malignancies, chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and transplant recipients. To our knowledge there have been no reported cases of Acremonium infection, related to HIV or AIDS. We present a case of Acremonium pneumonia in a patient with no past medical history who was found to have AIDS.

A rare case of perineal abscess caused by aerococcus urinae.

Aerococcus urinae, a previously misidentified pathogen, has become increasingly recognized to cause severe and even fatal infections. Aerococcus-related perineal abscess infections have not previously been reported in the literature. Most reported cases of infections caused by Aerococcus are urinary tract infections, bacteremia, and even rare cases of endocarditis. We report an unusual case of a perineal abscess caused by Aerococcus urinae.

Disseminated histoplasmosis presenting as diabetic keto-acidosis in an immunocompetent patient.

Histoplasma capsulatum causes a spectrum of manifestations from asymptomatic to fatal disseminated disease. Disseminated histoplasmosis is mostly seen in endemic areas among immunocompromised patients such as those with AIDS. Here, we present a patient living in a non-endemic area with previously undiagnosed diabetes mellitus, who presented with septic shock and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and was ultimately diagnosed with disseminated histoplasmosis. The patient rapidly recovered on administration of intravenous liposomal amphotericin followed by oral itraconazole. Uncontrolled diabetes may be a risk factor for disseminated or severe histoplasmosis in otherwise immunocompetent patients.

A Rare Case of Glossitis due to Pasteurella multocida after a Cat Scratch.

Pasteurella is one of the zoonotic pathogens that can cause variety of serious infections in animals and humans such as bacteremia, septic shock, endocarditis, meningitis, prosthetic and native valve infections, osteomyelitis, skin and soft tissue infections, abscesses, and even pneumonia with empyema. However, there have been few reports of upper respiratory involvements like tonsillitis and epiglottitis in humans. We present a case of recurrent Pasteurella glossitis after a cat scratch which has not been reported in humans.

A case of recurrent cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent female.

Cryptococcus neoformans is commonly associated with meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised patients and occasionally in apparently healthy individuals. Duration and regimen of antifungal treatment vary depending on the nature of the host and extent of disease and CNS shunts are placed in persistently elevated intracranial pressures. Recurrence of infection after initial treatment is not uncommon in HIV positive patients, Kaya et al. (2012) and Illnait-zaragozí et al. (2010). We describe a 39-year-old immunocompetent female that presented with neurologic deficits and increased intracranial pressure (ICP) due to cryptococcal meningoencephalitis that had a complicated course with drug induced hepatitis and persistently increased ICP that ultimately required shunt placement and presented again with relapse of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis after completion of antifungal treatment. Our case shows that recurrent cryptococcal meningitis can be seen in immunocompetent patients due to prolonged placement of CNS shunt and suggests that shunts should be removed after resolution of meningitis.