Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host
Elizabethkingia species are Gram-negative, glucose-non-fermenting bacilli predominantly found in soil and water, with Elizabethkingia anophelis increasingly recognized as a human pathogen. E. anophelis has also been reported in hospital outbreaks, suggesting the potential role of contaminated instit...
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221425092500085X |
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| author | Rahel T. Zewude Matheus O. Bastos May AlFalahi Coleman M.F. Rotstein Carson K.L. Lo |
| author_facet | Rahel T. Zewude Matheus O. Bastos May AlFalahi Coleman M.F. Rotstein Carson K.L. Lo |
| author_sort | Rahel T. Zewude |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Elizabethkingia species are Gram-negative, glucose-non-fermenting bacilli predominantly found in soil and water, with Elizabethkingia anophelis increasingly recognized as a human pathogen. E. anophelis has also been reported in hospital outbreaks, suggesting the potential role of contaminated institutional water sources. Conventional microbiological methods often lead to misidentifying this pathogen for other members of the genus Elizabethkingia, suggesting a role for molecular methods for identification.We report a 67-year-old female who developed multiorgan failure requiring intensive care unit admission and mechanical ventilation while being treated with chemotherapy for Burkitt lymphoma. She developed pneumonia with Gram-negative bacilli isolated from her endotracheal aspirate culture, later identified as E. anophelis. She later developed bacteremia due to the same pathogen, which was confirmed by MALDI-TOF and whole genome sequencing. Waterborne transmission via holy water administration was postulated to be potential source of infection.Our case report highlights that E. anophelis may cause significant infection and should not be disregarded as contaminant, especially in immunosuppressed individuals. As a waterborne pathogen that may be brought into hospital environments, emphasis on educating family members, close nursing monitoring, and reporting of suspected, unsupervised manipulation of medical equipment should be undertaken to prevent contamination by this organism from outside sources. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-26dbb2cc50cd4e0e8c4c45ee564e55f5 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2214-2509 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IDCases |
| spelling | doaj-art-26dbb2cc50cd4e0e8c4c45ee564e55f52025-08-20T02:05:17ZengElsevierIDCases2214-25092025-01-0140e0223010.1016/j.idcr.2025.e02230Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised hostRahel T. Zewude0Matheus O. Bastos1May AlFalahi2Coleman M.F. Rotstein3Carson K.L. Lo4Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Correspondence to: Divisions of Infectious Diseases, University of Toronto, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Canada.Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilTransplant Infectious Diseases and Ajmera Transplant Centre, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaTransplant Infectious Diseases and Ajmera Transplant Centre, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaTransplant Infectious Diseases and Ajmera Transplant Centre, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Correspondence to: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, 39 Charlton Ave E, Hamilton, ON L8N 1Y3, Canada.Elizabethkingia species are Gram-negative, glucose-non-fermenting bacilli predominantly found in soil and water, with Elizabethkingia anophelis increasingly recognized as a human pathogen. E. anophelis has also been reported in hospital outbreaks, suggesting the potential role of contaminated institutional water sources. Conventional microbiological methods often lead to misidentifying this pathogen for other members of the genus Elizabethkingia, suggesting a role for molecular methods for identification.We report a 67-year-old female who developed multiorgan failure requiring intensive care unit admission and mechanical ventilation while being treated with chemotherapy for Burkitt lymphoma. She developed pneumonia with Gram-negative bacilli isolated from her endotracheal aspirate culture, later identified as E. anophelis. She later developed bacteremia due to the same pathogen, which was confirmed by MALDI-TOF and whole genome sequencing. Waterborne transmission via holy water administration was postulated to be potential source of infection.Our case report highlights that E. anophelis may cause significant infection and should not be disregarded as contaminant, especially in immunosuppressed individuals. As a waterborne pathogen that may be brought into hospital environments, emphasis on educating family members, close nursing monitoring, and reporting of suspected, unsupervised manipulation of medical equipment should be undertaken to prevent contamination by this organism from outside sources.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221425092500085XElizabethkingia spp.Waterborne transmissionImmunocompromisedBacteremiaPneumonia |
| spellingShingle | Rahel T. Zewude Matheus O. Bastos May AlFalahi Coleman M.F. Rotstein Carson K.L. Lo Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host IDCases Elizabethkingia spp. Waterborne transmission Immunocompromised Bacteremia Pneumonia |
| title | Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host |
| title_full | Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host |
| title_fullStr | Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host |
| title_full_unstemmed | Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host |
| title_short | Holy water not so holy: Potential source of Elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host |
| title_sort | holy water not so holy potential source of elizabethkingia pneumonia and bacteremia in an immunocompromised host |
| topic | Elizabethkingia spp. Waterborne transmission Immunocompromised Bacteremia Pneumonia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221425092500085X |
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