Misidentification of Streptococcus uberis as a human pathogen: a case report and literature review

Enea Gino Di Domenico; Luigi Toma; Grazia Prignano; Lorella Pelagalli; Andrea Police; Claudia Cavallotti; Riccardo Torelli; Maurizio Sanguinetti; Fabrizio Ensoli

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2015.01.002

Misidentification of Streptococcus uberis as a human pathogen: a case report and literature review

Int J Infect Dis. 2015 Apr:33:79-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2015.01.002. Epub 2015 Jan 8.

Authors

Enea Gino Di Domenico¹, Luigi Toma², Grazia Prignano³, Lorella Pelagalli⁴, Andrea Police⁵, Claudia Cavallotti⁶, Riccardo Torelli⁷, Maurizio Sanguinetti⁷, Fabrizio Ensoli³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Pathology and Microbiology, San Gallicano Dermatology Institute, Rome, Italy; Pasteur Institute-Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", University of Rome Sapienza, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: enea.didomenico@uniroma1.it.
² Department of Infectious Disease, San Gallicano Dermatology Institute, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Clinical Pathology and Microbiology, San Gallicano Dermatology Institute, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Intensive Care Medicine, National Cancer Institute "Regina Elena", Rome, Italy.
⁵ Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery, National Cancer Institute "Regina" Elena, Rome, Italy.
⁶ Department of Dermatology, San Gallicano Dermatology Institute, Rome, Italy.
⁷ Institute of Microbiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 25578263
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2015.01.002

Abstract

Streptococcus uberis is an environmental bacterium responsible for bovine mastitis. It is occasionally described as a human pathogen, though in most cases the identification was based on biochemical phenotyping techniques. This report shows that the biochemical phenotyping may incorrectly identify Enterococcus faecium as S. uberis.

Keywords: Cancer; Enterococcus faecium; Hepatic metastasis; Soft tissue infection; Streptococcus uberis.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Diagnostic Errors*
Enterococcus faecium / isolation & purification*
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / diagnosis*
Humans
Male
Phenotype
Streptococcal Infections / diagnosis*
Streptococcus / isolation & purification*