Virulent Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in an immunocompetent adult associated with a home whirlpool bath: A case report

Abstract

We present a case of life-threatening pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in a healthy 67-year-old man. Rapid disseminated infection resulted in the right hemorrhagic pneumonia and bacteremia. Antimicrobial therapy had limited effects, radical pneumonectomy eventually resolved the prolonged infection. Concurrently, we explored the environmental factors responsible for fulminant P. aeruginosa infection. Multi-locus sequence typing demonstrated that P. aeruginosa isolated from the patient was identical to that collected from home whirlpool bath by the common virulent factor gene. Massive inhalation of contaminated aerosol and pathogen virulence may have synergistically contributed to the severity in this case.

Keywords

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa)
• Whirlpool bath
• Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST)
• Exoenzyme S (exoS) gene
• Exo S