Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis Pneumonia in a Veterinary Student Infected During Laboratory Work

Lars Heggelund; Peter Gaustad; Othilde Elise Håvelsrud; Jochen Blom; Lars Borgen; Arve Sundset; Henning Sørum; Stig Sophus Frøland

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofv053

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis Pneumonia in a Veterinary Student Infected During Laboratory Work

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2015 Apr 15;2(2):ofv053. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofv053. eCollection 2015 Apr.

Authors

Lars Heggelund¹, Peter Gaustad², Othilde Elise Håvelsrud², Jochen Blom³, Lars Borgen⁴, Arve Sundset⁵, Henning Sørum⁶, Stig Sophus Frøland⁷

Affiliations

¹ Medical Department.
² Departments of Microbiology.
³ Bioinformatics and Systems Biology , Justus-Liebig-University Giessen.
⁴ Department of Radiology , Drammen Hospital, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust , Norway.
⁵ Respiratory Medicine.
⁶ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Biosciences , Norwegian University of Life Sciences , Oslo.
⁷ Clinical Immunology and Infectious Diseases , Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo , Norway.

Abstract

We present a case of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis pneumonia in a veterinary student, with molecular genetic evidence of acquisition during laboratory work, an observation relevant for laboratory personnel working with C pseudotuberculosis isolates. The patient was clinically cured with 14 months trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and rifampicin combination treatment.

Keywords: Corynebacterium; pneumonia; zoonosis.