Manzella J P, Kellogg J A, Parsey K S
Department of Medicine, York Hospital, Pennsylvania 17405.
Clin Infect Dis. 1995 Jan;20(1):37-40. doi: 10.1093/clinids/20.1.37.
Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum has been reported to be an uncommon respiratory pathogen. We describe the clinical and microbiologic features of 17 patients from whose sputum C. pseudodiphtheriticum was isolated. Patients were identified through a review of the reports from the clinical microbiology laboratory at York Hospital, a community teaching hospital, from October 1990 through April 1993; 17 patients with respiratory infection caused by C. pseudodiphthriticum were identified. There were 12 cases of bronchitis and five of pneumonia. An underlying systemic condition, particularly congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, or malignancy, was common. Onset of symptomatology was acute for most patients, but fever was noticeably absent in almost two-thirds of the cases. Isolates were uniformly susceptible to the beta-lactam antibiotics, vancomycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but resistance to clindamycin and erythromycin was common. The isolation of diphtheroids from a properly obtained sputum sample from a patient with respiratory tract infection should not always be dismissed as due to contamination. The isolation, identification, and susceptibility testing of C. pseudodiphtheriticum from respiratory tract specimens may provide information useful for treatment of patients.
据报道，假白喉棒状杆菌是一种不常见的呼吸道病原体。我们描述了17例痰液中分离出假白喉棒状杆菌的患者的临床和微生物学特征。通过回顾1990年10月至1993年4月期间社区教学医院约克医院临床微生物实验室的报告，确定了这些患者；共识别出17例由假白喉棒状杆菌引起的呼吸道感染患者。其中支气管炎12例，肺炎5例。潜在的全身性疾病很常见，尤其是充血性心力衰竭、慢性阻塞性肺疾病、糖尿病或恶性肿瘤。大多数患者症状急性发作，但近三分之二的病例明显无发热。分离株对β-内酰胺类抗生素、万古霉素和甲氧苄啶-磺胺甲恶唑均敏感，但对克林霉素和红霉素耐药很常见。从呼吸道感染患者正确采集的痰液样本中分离出类白喉杆菌，不应总是因污染而不予考虑。从呼吸道标本中分离、鉴定假白喉棒状杆菌并进行药敏试验，可为患者治疗提供有用信息。
