1/3. Systemic Bacillus species infection mimicking listeriosis of pregnancy.Bacillus species are increasingly recognized as agents of infection in humans. These organisms are ubiquitous in nature and can cause clinical illness ranging from transient bacteremia to serious systemic infection. We describe a pregnant intravenous drug abuser with fever, constitutional symptoms, and premature labor. Her blood cultures yielded gram-positive bacilli, and her clinical course was consistent with systemic listeriosis of pregnancy. Pathological examination of the placenta revealed acute villitis, and Bacillus species grew from cultures of both placenta and blood. Through biochemical testing the isolate was identified as Bacillus pumilis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of premature labor induced by Bacillus species infection.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/3. Characterization of bacillus cereus isolates associated with fatal pneumonias: strains are closely related to bacillus anthracis and harbor B. anthracis virulence genes.bacillus cereus is ubiquitous in nature, and while most isolates appear to be harmless, some are associated with food-borne illnesses, periodontal diseases, and other more serious infections. In one such infection, B. cereus G9241 was identified as the causative agent of a severe pneumonia in a louisiana welder in 1994. This isolate was found to harbor most of the B. anthracis virulence plasmid pXO1 (13). Here we report the characterization of two clinical and one environmental B. cereus isolate collected during an investigation of two fatal pneumonia cases in texas metal workers. Molecular subtyping revealed that the two cases were not caused by the same strain. However, one of the three isolates was indistinguishable from B. cereus G9241. PCR analysis demonstrated that both clinical isolates contained B. anthracis pXO1 toxin genes. One clinical isolate and the environmental isolate collected from that victim's worksite contained the cap A, B, and C genes required for capsule biosynthesis in B. anthracis. Both clinical isolates expressed a capsule; however, neither was composed of poly-D-glutamic acid. Although most B. cereus isolates are not opportunistic pathogens and only a limited number cause food-borne illnesses, these results demonstrate that some B. cereus strains can cause severe and even fatal infections in patients who appear to be otherwise healthy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/3. Bacillus species pseudomeningitis.Bacillus species are aerobic gram-positive bacilli that are usually found in nature in the soil and dust. Except for B. anthracis, Bacillus species are organisms of low virulence, and only rarely cause infections in immunocompromised hosts. The recovery of Bacillus species from body fluids in healthy patients would suggest a Bacillus species pseudoinfection. Bacillus species has been associated with both pseudobacteremia and least commonly, pseudomeningitis. The Bacillus organisms usually contaminate liquid culture media, which have been implicated in Bacillus pseudoinfections of the blood and cerebrospinal fluid. We report a case of Bacillus pseudomeningitis in a normal host. To our knowledge, this is the third case of Bacillus pseudomeningitis reported in the literature.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |