Hemodialysis catheter-associated infection by Sphingobacterium Spiritivorum

A case report in an intensive care unit in Colombia.

Abstract

Introduction: Sphingobacterium spiritivorum is a rare cause of human infections worldwide. It occurs in immunocompromised patients, and its treatment is a clinical challenge.

Clinical case: A 46-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital in Medellín with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure secondary to severe pneumonia due to SARS-CoV-2 and requiring mechanical ventilation. He developed acute renal failure, requiring hemodialysis through a right jugular catheter. At 48 hours after insertion, signs of a systemic inflammatory response developed, and Sphingobacterium spiritivorum was cultured in all cultures.

Evolution: Intravenous ciprofloxacin was started for seven days with favorable clinical evolution and control culture at 48 hours without microbiological isolation, so it did not require the removal of the hemodialysis catheter. After this, with improvement in her admission condition, she was transferred to the general hospitalization ward and later discharged.

Conclusion: In this case, severe SARS/CoV-2 was aggravated by acute renal failure and septicemia superadded by S. Spiritivorum.