OCHROBACTRUM-ANTHROPI BACTEREMIA - REPORT OF 4 CASES AND SHORT REVIEW

Ochrobactrum anthropi, formerly ''Achromobacter'' CDC group Vd, is a n onfermentative, nonfastidious gram-negative bacillus, that only recent ly has been given attention as a potential human pathogen. Over a 2-ye ar period, we observed four patients with multiple blood cultures that were positive for the organism. The patients had acute leukemia as un derlying disease, and presented with clinical and microbiologic featur es consistent with catheter-related bacteremia. In three of the patien ts the infection initially appeared to be unrelated to chemotherapy-as sociated profound neutropenia and occurred early after, or was the rea son for, hospital admission. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the i solates varied: unlike previously reported cases, resistance in some o f our isolates included aminoglycosides, newer fluoroquinolones, and t rimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Despite in vitro susceptibility to imipe nem in initial isolates, treatment of two patients with this agent obv iously failed to eradicate the organism, and the patients either relap sed with bacteremia shortly after discontinuation of treatment or rema ined persistently febrile and bacteremic. O. anthropi appears to be in creasingly recognized as a human opportunist pathogen associated with intravascular catheters and unpredictable multiple antibiotic resistan ce.