Infectious Disease Compendium

Elizabethkingia

Microbiology

Gram-negative nonfermenting obligate aerobe. E. meningoseptica, E. micicola, E. anophelis (most common isolate but misidentified as E. meningoseptica).

Epidemiologic Risks

They are found in the environment, especially water including hospital water. There was an outbreak of Elizabethkingia anophelis found in the hospital tap water (PubMed).

There has been an issue with outbreaks in Illinois with ongoing sporadic infections among critically ill patients (PubMed).

In Australia it is found in Culicoides biting midge (PubMed) so maybe insects are the vector?

Elizabethkingia miricola is found in Asian Spotted Frogs (PubMed) and in the Mir space station. I am not certain what the two have in common.

Syndromes

Bacteremia, VAP, meningitis, usually nosocomial.

Treatment

Often multidrug-resistant, perhaps piperacillin/tazobactam or TMP/Sulfa pending susceptibility testing.

One study suggests lower mortality with quinolones (PubMed).

Notes

One strain, E. miricola, was first isolated in the Russian MIR space station and not named after some fake Russian Pepsi. E. anophelis was first isolated from the midgut of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito.

Curious Cases

Relevant links to my Medscape blog

Survival of the Fittest

Last update: 12/30/18