Capnocytophaga sepsis causing purpura fulminans in a 50-year-old man with chronic opioid use

Christopher Hogge; Miriam Holzman; Sahiba Khurana; Milos Brankovic; Chrystal Chang; Gabriel Fernandez; Diana Finkel

doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2022.e01505

Capnocytophaga sepsis causing purpura fulminans in a 50-year-old man with chronic opioid use

IDCases. 2022 May 27:29:e01505. doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2022.e01505. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Christopher Hogge¹, Miriam Holzman¹, Sahiba Khurana¹, Milos Brankovic¹, Chrystal Chang², Gabriel Fernandez², Diana Finkel¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
² Department of Urology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.

Abstract

We present a case of polymicrobial sepsis with Capnocytophaga spp. complicated by purpura fulminans following a dog-bite in a 50-year-old-man with an extensive history of opioid use disorder. Generally, severe Capnocytophaga cases are thought to occur in patients with underlying immune deficiencies. However, this case highlights the importance of maintaining clinical suspicion for Capnocytophaga infection in immunocompetent patients, and we discuss the role of chronic opioid-use in severe infection.

Keywords: Capnocytophaga; Chronic opioid use; Polymicrobial sepsis; Purpura fulminans.

Publication types

Case Reports