Mizuno Yasutaka, Sato Fumiya, Sakamoto Mitsuo, Yoshikawa Koji, Yoshida Masaki, Shiba Koya, Onodera Shoichi, Matsuura Ryoko, Takai Shinji
Division of Infection Control, Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-19-18 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-8471, Japan.
J Infect Chemother. 2005 Feb;11(1):37-40. doi: 10.1007/s10156-004-0355-x.
Rhodococcus equi, a bacterium present in soil, is a common cause of pneumonia in foals. This organism has been recognized as an opportunistic pathogen in humans, typically causing infection in immunocompromised hosts such as HIV-infected patients and organ transplant recipients. However, human infection with R. equi has not been reported in Japan except in a case involving a laboratory worker. We report the first human case of VapB-positive R. equi pneumonia, which involved an HIV-infected patient living in an urban area in Japan. The patient was treated successfully with 450 mg rifampicin and 600 mg tosufloxacin, even though his CD4+ lymphocyte count at the time of diagnosis was 10/microl. The patient's dogs were suspected in the epidemiology of this infection, but unfortunately we could not isolate the organism from canine-associated specimens in this case. R. equi infections in companion animals have been thought to be very rare, but they may be increasing in dogs. Therefore, further epidemiological research may clarify the prevalence of R. equi infection and the factors predisposing dogs to this infection.
马红球菌是一种存在于土壤中的细菌，是幼驹肺炎的常见病因。这种微生物已被公认为人类的机会致病菌，通常在免疫功能低下的宿主中引起感染，如艾滋病毒感染患者和器官移植受者。然而，除了一例涉及实验室工作人员的病例外，日本尚未报告过人感染马红球菌的情况。我们报告了首例VapB阳性马红球菌肺炎的人类病例，该病例涉及一名居住在日本城市地区的艾滋病毒感染患者。尽管该患者诊断时的CD4 +淋巴细胞计数为10/微升，但通过450毫克利福平和600毫克托氟沙星成功治愈。在此次感染的流行病学调查中怀疑该患者的狗与此有关，但遗憾的是，在本病例中我们未能从与犬相关的标本中分离出该微生物。伴侣动物感染马红球菌一直被认为非常罕见，但在犬类中可能正在增加。因此，进一步的流行病学研究可能会阐明马红球菌感染的流行情况以及犬类易感染此菌的因素。
