Genetic Research Institute of the Desert

Chryseobacterium indologenes, previously called Flavobacterium, has been reported to cause hospital-acquired infections mostly in Taiwan but rarely elsewhere. Six cases have been recorded in Europe, 2 in Australia, and a single case in the United States. We report a second case in the United States in a patient with metastatic breast cancer who, while on chemotherapy, developed a bacteremia due to C. indologenes via an indwelling catheter. Initially described as a gram-negative rod, this led to treatment with carbapenems to which the isolate proved resistant. Once the definitive speciation and in vitro sensitivities became available, appropriate antimicrobial therapy led to resolution of the infection. Broth microdilution rather than disc diffusion correlates most accurately with minimum inhibitory concentrations.