A Case of Listeria monocytogenes Bacteremia Treated with Levofloxacin

oleh: Ferit ÇELİK, Atike Pınar ERDOĞAN, Şöhret AYDEMİR, F. Rüçhan USLU, Oğuz Reşat SİPAHİ

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Galenos Yayinevi 2014-12-01

Deskripsi

Listeria monocytogenes are gram-positive bacilli causing epidemics through contagious food. It may lead to infections in the elderly and immunocompromised host. Although in vitro efficacy of levofloxacin is promising, published experience is limited. Acatheter-related L. monocytogenes bacteremia cleared microbiologically under levofloxacin is presented in this paper. A patient, diagnosed with metastatic breast carcinoma, was hospitalized for palliative care in medical oncology clinic with the recurrent need of paracentesis and impaired oral in take caused by severe nausea and vomiting. On the second and fourth days of hospitalization,the patient developed recurrent fever. Patient’s cultures were performed and empirical levofloxacin 500 mg/per day was started. Cultures (on the second and fourth days of hospitalization) yielded growth of L. monocytogenes. Under levofloxacin, the patient had no fever again and cultures drawn on the third and eighth days of antibiotherapy did not yield any pathogen. The patient died due to sudden respiratory failure, which was thought to be related to pulmonary embolism on the fifteenth day of hospitalization. Blood cultures, performed on the day the patient died, did not yield any pathogen. To our knowledge, this is the first case of L. monocytogenes bacteremia treated successfully with levofloxacin. The case suggests that levofloxacin (although not as monotherapy) may be a good option for combinations in the salvage therapy of L. monocytogenes bacteremia.