Kluyvera cryocrescens finger infection: case report and review of eighteen Kluyvera infections in human beings

Abstract

We report a case of soft tissue infection with Kluyvera cryocrescens and a critical review of Kluyvera infections. A 31-year-old diabetic man used a new chemical for stripping the floor with his bare hands. Two days later he developed a blister on a finger which progressed to tenosynovitis in spite of intravenous nafcillin therapy. After 11 days culture and sensitivity results dictated treatment with intravenous ticarcillin/clavulanic acid. The wound was debrided twice, and later a skin flap was done. Wound cultures became sterile after 7 days of treatment with ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, and he recovered. This case represents the fourth clinical infection with K. cryocrescens and the eighteenth of Kluyvera to be reported. Four others were K. ascorbata, and the remaining ten Kluyvera infections in humans were not identified beyond genus. Our case and review of the 17 previous cases emphasize that while Kluyvera rarely cause disease, these opportunistic Gram-negative bacilli may be virulent in a variety of sites under as yet poorly defined host conditions. Sites of infection varied, but the brain and meninges were not among them. Two patients had diabetes mellitus, none had AIDS, and four died. Once shown clinically to be the cause of an infection, Kluyvera deserve aggressive treatment which acknowledges their ampicillin resistance.