INFECTION WITH BACILLUS-CEREUS AFTER CLOSE-RANGE GUNSHOT INJURIES

Three patients were admitted with close-range gunshot mounds of the kn ee and lower leg, inflicted in all three cases through clothing, At ad mission, all of the patients were given antibiotics (cefuroxime and me tronidazole) to prevent streptococcal and anaerobic infection. All of the patients developed severe tissue infection with Bacillus cereus wi thin days of admission. In one case, the organism was also recovered f rom the blood. B. cereus is capable of causing severe infection after trauma and its ubiquity in the environment allows it easy access to gu nshot wounds. Its potent production of beta-lactamase renders penicill ins and cephalosporins predictably ineffective. The early administrati on of a non-beta-lactam drug (such as ciprofloxacin) should be conside red in cases where Bacillus cereus is isolated from traumatic wounds.