Clostridium ramosum (C. ramosum) Bacteremia: Single-center Study

• Published in: Open forum infectious diseases 2017-10, Vol.4 (suppl_1), p.S556-S556
• Main Authors: Gollapudi, Lakshmi Asritha, Narurkar, Roshni, Wang, Guiqing, Dhand, Abhay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2328-8957; 2328-8957
• DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofx163.1446

Abstract Background C. ramosum is indigenous to the human intestinal tract. Systemic infections from C. ramosum are rare and pathogenic infections have mostly been described in young children and in immune-compromised hosts. Here we present clinical characteristics of five patients with C. ramosum bacteremia from one single tertiary care center. This is the largest series of its kind. Methods This is a single-center, retrospective chart review of all adult patients who developed C. ramosum bacteremia from January 2013 to April 2017. C. ramosum was identified on the basis of conventional biochemical tests (RapID ANA II System, Remel) and DNA sequencing of the 16S rDNA. Results During the study period, five patients were identified with C. ramosum bacteremia. Clinical characteristics of these patients are included in Figure 1. All these patients were immunocompromised. Mean age of the study population 77 years. 4/5 patients had hematological malignancy were undergoing chemotherapy and were neutropenic. 4/5 patients initially presented with a febrile illness. While the source of bacteremia was not clear, 4/5 patients had associated gastro-intestinal abnormality based on clinical, radiological and laboratory findings. 2/5 five patients had concurrent bacteremia with various organisms. These patients were treated with cefepime (3/5), ceftazidime (1/5) and cefepime plus metronidazole (1/5). 3/5 (60%) of the patients in our study died, from the progression of their underlying hematological malignancy. Conclusion Patients with C. ramosum bacteremia are older, immunocompromised, can have concurrent other infections, have a likely gastro-intestinal source and are associated with higher mortality. C. ramosum bacteremia, especially in immunocompromised hosts should be properly evaluated and treated. Figure 1: Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.