Ralstonia mannitolilytica-Induced Septicemia and Homology Analysis in Infected Patients: 3 Case Reports

BACKGROUND: Ralstonia mannitolilytica is an emerging opportunistic pathogen. Hospital outbreaks of Ralstonia spp. are mainly associated with contaminated treatment water or auxiliary instruments. OBJECTIVES: In this report, we summarize the clinical infection characteristics of R. mannitolilytica, the drug-susceptibility testing of the bacterial strains, and the results of related infection investigations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical information of 3 patients with R. mannitolilytica. RESULTS: The patients' primary-onset symptoms were chills and fever. The disease progressed rapidly and septic shock symptoms developed. Laboratory tests indicated progressively decreased white blood cells and platelets, as well as significant increases in certain inflammation indicators. The effect of treatment with Tazocin was good. The growth period of R. mannitolilytica in sterile distilled water was > 6 months. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) results revealed that the infectious strains from these 3 patients were not the same clonal strain. This bacterium was not detected in the nosocomial infection samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that R. mannitolilytica-induced septicemia had an acute disease onset and rapid progression. The preferred empirical antibiotic was Tazocin. In these 3 cases, the R. mannitolilytica-induced septicemia was not due to clonal transmission.