Overwhelming Streptococcus pyogenes sepsis in an elderly patient with septic arthritis

The signs of Streptococcus pyogenes, group A streptococci (GAS) bacteremia are non-specific and patients can have wide presentations ranging from flu-like symptoms to life-threatening toxic-shock syndrome in just a few hours. We report a case of fulminant S. pyogenes sepsis in an elderly woman with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of infection and public health 2018-05, Vol.11 (3), p.434-435
Main Authors: Chadha, Aarti, Jamal, Wafaa, Aziz, Abdul R.A., Rotimi, Vincent O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthritis
Elderly patient
S. pyogenes
Sepsis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The signs of Streptococcus pyogenes, group A streptococci (GAS) bacteremia are non-specific and patients can have wide presentations ranging from flu-like symptoms to life-threatening toxic-shock syndrome in just a few hours. We report a case of fulminant S. pyogenes sepsis in an elderly woman with septic arthritis and remarkable past medical history/risk factors. She was febrile, hypotensive and had a swollen and tender right knee. Multiple blood cultures and the synovial fluid culture yielded S. pyogenes. Despite adequate antimicrobial therapy with penicillin and clindamycin the patient succumbed to her infection within 4days of presentation in our hospital. GAS remains penicillin sensitive most of the time but prompt appropriate antibiotic therapy is very crucial to survival.
ISSN:1876-0341
1876-035X
DOI:10.1016/j.jiph.2017.08.011