Plague and Plague Vaccines

Plague is a zoonosis caused by the Gram-negative bacillus, Yersinia pestis, a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru are still considered highly endemic for plague; however, the bacterium also exists in some regions in Asia and the USA. First symptoms occur 1 to 7 days after exposure. There are three clinical forms of plague: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plague. Transmitted as an aerosol, Y. pestis has been developed as a biological weapon. There are adjuvanted whole-cell vaccines which need repeated dosing, and which are highly reactogenic; subunit vaccines are in development.

Helcococcus kunzii, a skin-colonising microorganism with pathogenic capacity: a case of polymicrobial intracranial empyema

Helcococcus kunzii is a Gram-positive anaerobic facultative coccus that colonises the skin. Human infection is rare, with very few cases being described in the literature. The authors present the case of a 17-year-old man, with a history of cholesteatoma, diagnosed with mastoiditis complicated by intracranial empyema. After urgent surgical drainage, Gram staining revealed a Gram-negative bacillus and a Gram-positive coccus. The latter exhibited fastidious growth, presented as small grey colonies in blood agar, and was afterwards identified as H. kunzii. The patient was started on intravenous antibiotics, switched to oral route after 8 weeks and fully recovered. To the best of our knowledge, this is the third case of an intracranial infection in which H. kunzii is involved, two of them occurring in patients with cholesteatoma.

Lemierre’s Syndrome

Fusobacterium necrophorum is a non-spore forming anaerobic gram-negative bacillus and has traditionally been associated with Lemierre’s syndrome, an infectious thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein.Fusobacterium necrophorum is commonly associated with pharyngitis, tonsillitis and peritonsillar abscesses similar to that of group A streptococcus, and is accounted for up to 10% of cases of pharyngitis in adolescents and young adults

Plesiomonas shigelloides septic shock following ingestion of Dojo nabe (loach hotpot)

Plesiomonas shigelloides is a gram-negative bacillus that commonly causes self-limited diarrhea in humans. We present the case of P. shigelloides bacteremia in a 49-year-old man with alcoholic cirrhosis who developed septic shock a day after eating Dojo nabe (loach hotpot), a Japanese traditional dish.

Multidrug-resistant klebsiella pneumoniae-induced sepsis with multiple abscesses: A case report

Klebsiella pneumoniae, a Gram-negative bacillus which exists widely in nature, is generally colonized in the human intestine and oral cavity and does not cause disease [1]. However, the emergence and global expansion of hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant clones of K. pneumoniae have been increasingly reported in community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Management of antimicrobial resistance in multi-drug-resistant-K. pneumoniae (MDR-KP) is a major challenge for clinicians [2]. The optimal treatment option for MDR-KP infections is still not well established, which brings huge challenges to clinical treatment [2].

Multiresistent Cupriavidus pauculus infection in an immunocompromised elderly patient

Cupriavidus pauculus is a gram-negative bacillus aerobic bacteria widely distributed in nature that can cause, in rare cases, serious infections both in immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. We describe a case of an elderly patient admitted in emergency room with septic shock and diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. During his hospital stay, his clinical and analytical conditions have deteriorated. Blood cultures were positive for C. pauculus only sensitive to minocycline. Despite every effort, due to multiple comorbidities and a nosocomial pneumonia, the patient ends up dying.

Multicomponent Gold-Linked Glycoconjugate Vaccine Elicits Antigen-Specific Humoral and Mixed T H 1-T H 17 Immunity, Correlated with Increased Protection against Burkholderia pseudomallei

Melioidosis is a complex human disease associated with a wide range of complications caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia pseudomallei . The global burden of melioidosis is estimated to have 165,000 cases per year and 89,000 fatal outcomes.

Melioidosis by aminoglycoside susceptible Burkholderia pseudomallei: First case in Bangladesh

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the etiological agent of melioidosis. It is a gram-negative bacillus present in environment and intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics including aminoglycosides. However, recently aminoglycoside susceptible B. pseudomallei has been isolated from melioidosis cases and reported from some countries of the world. But, such aminoglycoside susceptible B. pseudomallei has never been detected in Bangladesh either from melioidosis cases or from environment. All the B. pseudomallei isolated so far in Bangladesh were resistant to gentamicin and other aminoglycosides. Here, we describe a disseminated case of melioidosis caused by aminoglycoside susceptible B. pseudomallei in a 55 years old Bengali male patient. This is the first case of melioidosis due to aminoglycoside susceptible B. pseudomallei in Bangladesh. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2020; 14(2): 55-59