Helcococcus ovis in a patient with an artificial eye: a case report and literature review

Liyan Mao,Ziyong Sun,Jing Yu,Yu Zhou,Qun Lin,Yanfang Lu,Zhongju Chen,Ying Luo

doi:10.1186/s12879-018-3310-7

Liyan Mao, Ziyong Sun + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-018-3310-7

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Abstract

BackgroundHelcococcus ovis, belonging to the genus of Helcococcu in Peptostreptococcaceae, is one kind of facultative anaerobic and gram-positive cocci, which was first isolated from a mixed infection in sheep in 1999. To our knowledge, it’s known as an invasive pathogen in animals, and never been reported as a human pathogen in published literature. The aims of this work are to describe the first report of H. ovis which was recovered from the artificial eye of human case and perform a literature review.Case presentationA 26 year-old man reporting pyogenic infection with an artificial eye attended ophthalmic ward in Tongji hospital. After physical examination, clinical and laboratory investigations, the diagnosis of eye infection caused by Helcococcus ovis and Staphylococcus aureus was established. Receiving a medico-surgical approach, the patient was successfully treated. The treatment consisted in intravenous cefotaxime and ornidazole, levofloxacin eye drops during two weeks and removing of right artificial eye with debridement.ConclusionsWe describe here the first known case of H. ovis which was recovered from human artificial eye. This report different from previous data found in the literature emphasizes the invasive potential of this bacterial species as a pathogen in human. Prospectively, the application of next generation sequencing tools would contribute to a more accurate classification of clinical strains.

Highlights

Helcococcus ovis, belonging to the genus of Helcococcu in Peptostreptococcaceae, is one kind of facultative anaerobic and gram-positive cocci, which was first isolated from a mixed infection in sheep in 1999
We describe here the first known case of H. ovis which was recovered from human artificial eye
H. ovis was first isolated from a mixed infection in sheep in 1999 and was subsequently reported in bovine, horses and goats [2], but has never been isolated from human specimens, even as a result of foreign body invasion [11, 12]

Summary

Introduction

Helcococcus ovis, belonging to the genus of Helcococcu in Peptostreptococcaceae, is one kind of facultative anaerobic and gram-positive cocci, which was first isolated from a mixed infection in sheep in 1999. The aims of this work are to describe the first report of H. ovis which was recovered from the artificial eye of human case and perform a literature review. Case presentation: A 26 year-old man reporting pyogenic infection with an artificial eye attended ophthalmic ward in Tongji hospital. Helcococcus, a facultatively anaerobic, catalase-negative, Gram-positive cocci, was first described in 1993 by Collins and colleagues [1] This genus composes of five species, namely Helcococcus kunzii (first reported in 1993 [1]), Helcococcus ovis (first reported in 1999 [2]), Helcococcus pyogenica (first reported in 2004 [3]), Helcococcus sueciensis (first reported in 2004 [4]) and Helcococcus seattlensis (first reported in 2014 [5]). The patient was a heavy smoker but had no other underlying conditions From his medical history it was noted that the patient had undergone a right ophthalmectomy 24 years previously due to retinoblastoma, and implantation of an artificial right eyeball in 2014 (timeline shown in Additional file 1)

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