Primary Shewanella alga septicemia in a patient on hemodialysis

We report the first Japanese case of primary septicemia with Shewanella alg a and also describe the bacteriological characteristics of and results of a ntibiotic susceptibility tests of the isolate. S. alga was repeatedly isola ted, at times simultaneously with Escherichia coli, from the blood of a 64- year-old female undergoing hemodialysis. The isolated organism uas determin ed to be S. alga based on recently published identification criteria, such as hemolysis on sheep blood agar, no acid production from carbohydrates, an d growth on agar containing 6.5% NaCl. Results of antibiotic susceptibility tests demonstrated that the isolate was sensitive to levofloxacin and cefp irome (MICs, less than or equal to 0.063) but resistant to cefazolin, cefti zoxime, and imipenem (MICs, >128, 64 and 8 mu g/ml, respectively). Although the role of S. alga as a human pathogen has not been fully determined, acc umulating data suggest that this organism may be a potential pathogen, espe cially in compromised hosts.