Septic shock and death due to Dolosigranulum pigrum bacteremia: a case report.

Abstract

We report the case of a 77-year-old Japanese woman with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, treated with 15 mg of prednisolone daily, who presented with acute septic shock and altered consciousness due to Dolosigranulum pigrum bacteremia. Intravenous extracellular fluids and broad-spectrum antibiotics were administered as an initial treatment. However, the patient died shortly after admission. We performed 16S rRNA sequencing and analyzed the murJ gene. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the neighbor-joining method showed that the strain belonged to clade C3, according to the classification proposed by Flores Ramos et al. Although D. pigrum, a commensal bacterium of the upper respiratory tract, is rarely associated with infections, it occasionally causes serious infections. Accumulation of clinical and bacteriological data is crucial for understanding the pathogenicity and infections associated with this organism.