Jp. Manzella et al., CORYNEBACTERIUM-PSEUDODIPHTHERITICUM - A RESPIRATORY-TRACT PATHOGEN IN ADULTS, Clinical infectious diseases, 20(1), 1995, pp. 37-40
Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum has been reported to be an uncomm
on respiratory pathogen, We describe the clinical and microbiologic fe
atures of 17 patients from whose sputum C, pseudodiphtheriticum was is
olated. Patients were identified through a review of the reports from
the clinical microbiology laboratory at York Hospital, a community tea
ching hospital, from October 1990 through April 1993; 17 patients with
respiratory infection caused by C, pseudodiphtheriticum were identifi
ed, There were 12 cases of bronchitis and five of pneumonia. An underl
ying systemic condition, particularly congestive heart failure, chroni
c obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, or malignancy, was
common. Onset of symptomatology was acute for most patients, but feve
r was noticeably absent in almost two-thirds of the cases. Isolates we
re uniformly susceptible to the beta-lactam antibiotics, vancomycin, a
nd trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but resistance to clindamycin and er
ythromycin was common. The isolation of diphtheroids from a properly o
btained sputum sample from a patient with respiratory tract infection
should not always be dismissed as due to contamination. The isolation,
identification, and susceptibility testing of C. pseudodiphtheriticum
from respiratory tract specimens may provide information useful for t
reatment of patients.