Atypical Chryseobacterium meningosepticum and meningitis and sepsis in newborns and the immunocompromised, Taiwan

From 1996 to 1999, 17 culture-documented systemic infections due to novel, atypical strains of Chryseobacterium meningosepticum occurred in two newbor ns and 15 immunocompromised patients in a medical center in Taiwan. All cli nical isolates, which were initially misidentified as Aeromonas salmonicida by an automated bacterial identification system, were resistant to a numbe r of antimicrobial agents. The isolates were characterized as atypical stra ins of C. meningosepticum by complete biochemical investigation, 16S rRNA g ene sequence analysis, cellular fatty acid analysis, and random amplified p olymorphic DNA fingerprinting (RAPD). This is the first report of a cluster of atypically variant strains of C. meningosepticum, which may be an emerg ing pathogen in newborns and the immunocompromised.