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Published on: September 14, 2013
Dysgonic fermenter-3: a bacterium associated with diarrhea in immunocompromised hosts
A M Heiner1, J A DiSario, K Carroll
1Division of Gastroenterology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City.
Abstract:
We describe two patients with chronic diarrhea associated with dysgonic fermenter-3 (DF-3) infection. One patient had common variable hypogammaglobulinemia and the other hand chronic idiopathic neutropenia and human immunodeficiency virus infection. Specific stool culture techniques were necessary to isolate DF-3. The organism was sensitive to clindamycin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Antibiotic therapy eradicated the organism and the diarrhea resolved in both patients. DF-3 is a little-recognized organism associated with diarrhea in the immunocompromised patient. It should be suspected when routine evaluation and stool cultures are not diagnostic.
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