RECOVERY OF UNCOMMON BACTERIA FROM BLOOD - ASSOCIATION WITH NEOPLASTIC DISEASE

Recovery of unusual bacterial isolates fi om blood may present problem s of intel pretation for the microbiologist and the clinician. The ass ociation of bacteremia caused by cel tain species of bacteria with und erlying neoplastic disease, especially hematologic malignancies, has b een described. Among the bacteria whose presence in the bloodstream ma y be associated with cancer are the following: Aeromonas hydrophila, B acillus species, Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus, Capnocytophaga spec ies, Clostridium septicum, Corynebacterium jeikeium, Listeria monocyto genes, Mycobacterium species, Rhodococcus equi, Salmonella species, St reptococcus bovis, and group G streptococcus. These unusual bacteria a re recovered from the blood of patients with predisposing factors that provide the means for the organism to gain access to the bloodstream and prevent appropriate immune response and clearance of the organism. Recovery of C. septicum and S. bovis from blood is often predictive o f occult, undiagnosed neoplasms.