Infections due to Stomatococcus mucilaginosus: 10 cases and review

We describe 10 new cases of bacteremia due to Stomatococcus mucilaginosus and review eight other cases that have been described in the literature. The most common clinical presentations were endocarditis, catheter-related infection, and septicemia. Commonly associated risk factors were intravenous drug abuse, cardiac valve disease, the presence of foreign bodies (especially indwelling vascular catheters), and immunocompromised states. S. mucilaginosus bacteremia is readily treatable with antibiotics. This organism is of low virulence, but appears to be an emerging pathogen. Infection due to S. mucilaginosus is likely to be underreported because the organism may be easily misidentified and information on it is not included in the databases of many automated microbiologic identification systems.