Tran MaryAnn P, Caldwell-McMillan Molly, Khalife Walid, Young Vincent B
Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
BMC Infect Dis. 2008 Nov 10;8:154. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-8-154.
Streptococcus intermedius is a member of the Streptococcus anginosus group. Clinical disease with S. intermedius is characterized by abscess formation and rarely endocarditis. Identification of Streptococcus intermedius is difficult, leading to the development of molecular methods to more accurately identify and characterize this organism.
Over a period of 6 months we encountered three cases of invasive Streptococcus intermedius infection presenting as hepatic abscesses, brain abscess, and endocarditis. We confirmed our microbiologic diagnosis through 16S sequencing and found a common virulence gene in each case.
Our report illustrates three different clinical manifestations due to Streptococcus intermedius infection that can be encountered in healthy individuals in a community hospital setting. To our knowledge, this is the first case of Streptococcus intermedius endocarditis confirmed by 16S sequencing analysis. The use of molecular methods may allow a better understanding of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of this organism.
中间型链球菌是咽峡炎链球菌群的成员。中间型链球菌引起的临床疾病以脓肿形成为特征，很少导致心内膜炎。中间型链球菌的鉴定较为困难，因此开发了分子方法以更准确地鉴定和表征这种微生物。
在6个月的时间里，我们遇到了3例侵袭性中间型链球菌感染病例，分别表现为肝脓肿、脑脓肿和心内膜炎。我们通过16S测序证实了微生物学诊断，并在每个病例中发现了一个共同的毒力基因。
我们的报告阐述了社区医院环境中健康个体可能遇到的由中间型链球菌感染引起的三种不同临床表现。据我们所知，这是首例通过16S测序分析确诊的中间型链球菌心内膜炎病例。分子方法的应用可能有助于更好地了解这种微生物的流行病学和发病机制。
