Vibrio vulnificus Septicemia in a Patient with Liver Cirrhosis

Vibrio vulnificus was isolated from a blood culture of a 41-year-old male patient with liver cirrhosis. He had eaten raw fish one day prior to the onset of clinical symptoms which included fever, chills, diarrhea and hypotension. He also developed cellulitis of the right leg which developed into a necrotic ulcer.

The isolate was a slightly curved gram-negative bacillus and the colony morphology on a TCBS plate was similar to that of V. parabaemolyticus. Acid production from lactose was detected after 2 days of incubation. Other biochemical tests showed typical reactions of V. vulnificus. The isolate was susceptible to all of the tested antibiotics except to clindamycin, colistin and penicillin G.