[Eikenella corrodens infections].

E. corrodens is an anaerobic facultative Gram-negative rod whose natural habitat is the oral cavity and the upper respiratory tract. This work describes four new cases of verified infections associated with this bacterium. A literature review of cases from 1975 to 1984 has been made. In this report, we discuss the pathogenicity of E. corrodens and predisposing factors for infections including underlying diseases. Successful antibiotic therapy can be achieved with benzylpenicillin or ampicillin which are the drugs of choice. E. corrodens is a slow growing bacterium of low virulence, rarely isolated in current practice because of its unusual association with conditions such as human bites, infections of the oral cavity or immuno-suppressive therapy.