Enterobacter cloacae septicaemia complicating rotavirus gastroenteritis: a case report

Abstract

Rotavirus infections are a common cause of gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. Although rotavirus gastroenteritis is usually self-limiting in healthy infants, approximately 33% of cases of severe diarrhoea require hospitalization (1). Small intestinal epithelium dysfunction during rotavirus gastroenteritis is well-documented. Enteric Gram-negative bacteraemia as a complication of rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis has been reported in healthy children (2). It is believed that steroid treatment for any purpose may increase the risk of invasion of the mucosa by endogenous enteric bacterial flora and gastrointestinal mucosal damage via rotavirus infection. There are only 2 reported cases of secondary enteric Gram-negative bacteraemia in infants with rotavirus infection who were treated with corticosteroids for panhypopituitarism and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (3). In this paper we report the case of a patient with nosocomial rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis complicated by Enterobacter cloacae bacteraemia who was treated with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) for infantile spasm.