Rare zoonosis (hemotrophic mycoplasma infection) in a newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus patient followed by a Nocardia asteroides pneumonia

Dubravka Bosnic, MD; Marko Baresic, MD; Branimir Anic, MD; Mirna Sentic, MD; Mislav Cerovec, MD; Miroslav Mayer, MD; Nada Cikes, MD

Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases (Jan 2010)

Rare zoonosis (hemotrophic mycoplasma infection) in a newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus patient followed by a Nocardia asteroides pneumonia

Dubravka Bosnic, MD,
Marko Baresic, MD,
Branimir Anic, MD,
Mirna Sentic, MD,
Mislav Cerovec, MD,
Miroslav Mayer, MD,
Nada Cikes, MD

Affiliations

Dubravka Bosnic, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Marko Baresic, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; Correspondence to: Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, Zagreb, Croatia. Telephone number: +385981604259.
Branimir Anic, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mirna Sentic, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mislav Cerovec, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Miroslav Mayer, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Nada Cikes, MD: Department and institution, Division of Clinical, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kispaticeva 12, 10 000, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 92 – 95

Abstract

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Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is per se a disease characterized by suppressed immune response and thus susceptibility to various opportunistic infections. We describe the case of a 21-yearold woman who developed a rare zoonosis - hemotrophic mycoplasma infection in the initial stage of SLE, complicated with Nocardia asteroides pneumonia afterwards. Nocardia infection coincided with initiation of glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide therapy for SLE. After the treatment she recovered completely. To our knowledge the only case of human hemoplasmosis (then referred to as eperythrozoonosis) in medical literature was the one described by a group of Croatian authors 22 years ago. No cases of a hemotrophic mycoplasma infection in a SLE patient have been published up to now. Keywords: SLE, zoonosis, hemotrophic mycoplasma (hemoplasma), eperythrozoon, Nocardia asteroides

Published in Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1413-8670 (Print); 1678-4391 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Spain
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Infectious and parasitic diseases; Science: Microbiology
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-brazilian-journal-of-infectious-diseases

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