Campylobacter jejuni Bacteremia Complicating Gastroenteritis in an Immunocompetent Patient Without Classic Risk Factors

Campylobacter jejuni (C.jejuni) is an uncommon manifestation of Campylobacter infection and may occur in patients without recognized immunocompromising conditions.A 35-year-old woman with a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) on chronic proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and prior bariatric surgery (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) presented with acute watery diarrhea, diffuse abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever.Imaging was consistent with enterocolitis, and she was treated supportively with empiric ceftriaxone and metronidazole before clinical improvement and discharge.She was recalled to the hospital one day later after blood cultures from the initial admission grew gram-negative, curved, aerophilic rods, subsequently confirmed as C. jejuni.She was treated empirically with meropenem and transitioned to levofloxacin.HIV testing, hepatitis panel, and stool studies for alternative pathogens were unrevealing.She improved clinically, with the normalization of inflammatory markers, and was discharged to complete a 14-day antibiotic course as an outpatient.This case illustrates that C. jejuni bacteremia can occur in young, immunocompetent patients without traditional predisposing risk factors, challenging the paradigm that invasive Campylobacter disease is largely confined to the immunocompromised and elderly.