Bacillus cereus infections.

Bacillus cereus infections The importance of Bacillus organisms, particularly B. cereus, in local infections has been largely overlooked because they are commonly encountered as contaminants in specimens or cultures. Turnbull et al. (J Clin Pathol 1979 ;32 :289-93) reported severe infections with B. cereus and prompted me to review the recent isolates in this laboratory. In the nine months, November 1978 to July 1979, there have been nine significant isolates of Bacillus. Details of these infections are given in the Table. Infected traumatic or surgical wounds of the limbs account for nearly half these cases, but clinical severity is very variable. It is my experience that moderate or heavy growths of Bacillus from wounds are usually of clinical significance. In view of recent publications on B. cereus and its pathogenicity in serious wound infections due to necrotising toxins,1-4 I should like to report the following four cases which we have seen during the past four months. (Table opposite) In three of these four cases the strain of B. cereus isolated was a strong producer of toxin, and certainly in case 3 was the only pathogen isolated, and it is likely that this organism played a significant role in these infections. In case 4 the wound swab was taken five days after starting ampicillin, to which B. cereus was resistant, and the pyrexia settled after a further two days of treatment. Since this strain was shown to be a weak product of toxin it is unlikely to have played a major pathogenic role in this patient. It is most important to consider B. cereus as a potential pathogen in wound sepsis, and toxin testing may be useful to assess its significance in individual cases. for sero-typing and toxin testing these strains. Severe clinical conditions associated with Bacillus cereus and the apparent involvement of exotoxins. English LF. Two gas-gangrene-like infections due to Bacillus cereus. Br The letters from Drs Barnham and White are important in supporting and emphasising the existence of a problem of Bacillus organisms in local infections. Accordingly, we wish to draw to the attention of readers our interest in the immunological responses to such infections , particularly those involving B. cereus and B. anthracis, which relate to the toxic products of these organisms. In addition to the non-anthrax Bacillus cultures, which should continue to be sent to the Food Hygiene Laboratory, we should like to obtain serum from patients …