Microbiología Médica y Diagnóstico

Vibrio alginolyticus Infections: Report of Two Cases from Spain with Literature Review

Abstract

Ana Fernández-Bravo, Frederic Ballester, Isabel Pujol, Frederic Gomez-Bertomeu, Cristina Martí, Antonio Rezusta, Isabel Ferrer- Cerón, Carmen Aspiroz, Maria Jesús Puyod and Maria José Figueras

Vibrio alginolyticus is rarely reported as a human pathogen. However, we report two cases from Spain. The first case involved a 69-year-old male with a rectum adenocarcinoma that developed enterocolitis and septic shock. The second case was associated with a previously healthy 37-year-old male patient with a pretibial ulcer exposed to the Mediterranean Sea. The isolates were identified as V. alginolyticus by MALDI-TOF MS and rpoD gene sequencing. The strain from the first patient was incorrectly attributed to Aeromonas sp. in the preliminary identification by API 20E and API 20NE. The antibiotic susceptibility against 13 antibiotics was tested and both strains were resistant to penicillin and ampicillin. This study is intended to raise awareness about the increasing incidence of V. alginolyticus and to that aim a review of the previous cases is also provided. Additionally, this study alerts that V. alginolyticus can be confused with Aeromonas based on the used identification method.