[Campylobacter bacteremia and HIV infection]

Bacteremia due to Campylobacter is a rare infection. Patients with HIV infection are an important risk group for this condition. We describe here two patients with Campylobacter bacteremia and advanced HIV infection. One case was due to C. jejuni infection in a drug addict, being also isolated C. jejuni in stool samples. Treatment with ciprofloxacin was effective in this patient. The other case was due to C. laridis infection also in a drug addict, with poor clinical and microbiological response despite adequate treatment with gentamycin. The same microorganism was still isolated in blood cultures after 20 days of treatment. All the blood cultures were performed using a Bactec-NR 660 16 A and 17 A (Benton Dickinson) system. Growth was detected only in aerobic bottles after 3-4 days of incubation.