Type: Parasite
Name: Vibrio vulnificus
Importance- to Body:
Cutaneous Infection
Distribution- in Body:
Skin; Cellulitis with bullous manifestations. Predilection in patients with liver disease.
Epidemiology: Curved, gram-negative rods
Food Sources:
Associated with fins of tilapia fish and common carp.
Environmental/Geographic Sources:
Requires saline environment to live. Manifestations occur within 7 days of exposure to seawater. Infection occurs April through October.
Diagonosis:
Microbiologic culture, Clinical history
Treatment:
First-line antimicrobial agents include cefotaxime and or ceftazidime, plus doxycycline. All quinolones, ceftriaxone cefepime, piperacillin, ticarcillin, piperacillin/ticarcillin/clavulanate, imipenem, and meropenem, Requires surgical incision and drainage. Antibiotic duration usually 4 weeks or longer.
Supplemental information:
Source: Cutaneous Manifestations Of Waterborne Infections by: Lucinda Elko, MD, RPh, Keith Rosenbach, MD, PhD*, and John Sinnott, MD
| Vibrio vulnificus | |
|---|---|
| |
| False-color SEM image of Vibrio vulnificus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Proteobacteria |
| Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Vibrionales |
| Family: | Vibrionaceae |
| Genus: | Vibrio |
| Species: | V. vulnificus |
| Binomial name | |
| Vibrio vulnificus (Reichelt et al. 1976)
Farmer 1979 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Beneckea vulnifica | |
Vibrio vulnificus is a species of Gram-negative, motile, curved rod-shaped (bacillus), pathogenic bacteria of the genus Vibrio. Present in marine environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas, V. vulnificus is related to V. cholerae, the causative agent of cholera.
Infection with V. vulnificus leads to rapidly expanding cellulitis or sepsis. It was first isolated as a source of disease in 1976. The capsule, made of polysaccharides, is thought to protect against phagocytosis. The observed association of the infection with liver disease (associated with increased serum iron) might be due to the capability of more virulent strains to capture iron bound to transferrin.