CHROMOBACTERIUM-VIOLACEUM IN TROPICAL NORTHERN AUSTRALIA

Chromobacterium violaceum is an unusual cause of infection which may h ave fatality rates of over 60% when systemic illness occurs. We descri be four patients infected with this organism who were successfully tre ated at Royal Darwin Hospital between 1991 and 1996. In tropical Austr alia, C. violaceum infection should be considered along with melioidos is in patients who present with a septic illness with skin lesions and /or organ abscesses after exposure to soil in the wet season.