Purpura fulminans due to Enterococcus cecorum in an asplenic patient
Alexia Lundy,
Aurore Claudinon,
Jo-Anna Tirolien,
Gaëtan Plantefève,
Damien Contou
Affiliations
Alexia Lundy
Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69, rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prud’hon, 95100 Argenteuil, France
Aurore Claudinon
Service de microbiologie, Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69, rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prud’hon, 95100 Argenteuil, France
Jo-Anna Tirolien
Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69, rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prud’hon, 95100 Argenteuil, France
Gaëtan Plantefève
Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69, rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prud’hon, 95100 Argenteuil, France
Damien Contou
Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69, rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prud’hon, 95100 Argenteuil, France; Correspondence to: Service de Réanimation Polyvalente Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69, rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prudhon, 95100 Argenteuil, France.
Enterococcus cecorum was initially isolated from the intestine of poultry and is an uncommon cause of human infection. We report here what we believe to be the first case of overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI) with purpura fulminans due to Enterococcus cecorum in a 51-year-old man. As opposed to other enterococci, Enterococcus cecorum remains susceptible to third-generation cephalosporin which is the first line empirical antibiotic therapy for both patients with purpura fulminans and asplenic patients with sepsis. Despite adequate antibiotic therapy, evolution in the intensive care unit (ICU) was overwhelming with death occurring 10 h after ICU admission.
