Fulminant Septic Shock with Pasteurella multocida in a Young Infant: No Bite, Scratch, or Lick!

ABSTRACT

This is a case of Pasteurella multocida septic shock encountered in a 7-week-old infant without any bites, scratch marks, or history of licks by pet animals (dog and cats in household). The infant required 3 days of vasopressor support and 4 days of mechanical ventilation to achieve normal hemodynamics. This is an unidentified route of transmission and our literature search for this topic discovered reported cases of life-threatening presentation with Pasteurella infections in the absence of a bite or any form of invasive contact with animals. We believe that this is an important public safety message to restrict animal contact of young infants to prevent severe infection.