[83-year-old patient with salmonella bacteremia and infection-associated Sweet's syndrome]

An 83 year-old man presented with watery diarrhea and a rash. He was hypotensive, febrile and dehydrated. The rash was maculopapular and most pronounced on the dorsal trunk.

The lab tests showed an acute renal failure with hypokalemia and hyponatremia. Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from the aerobic blood culture, stool cultures were negative. The rash was consistent with an infection-associated Sweet's syndrome. THERAPY AND COURSE OF DISEASE: The patient was admitted and received iv fluids and potassium. An empiric antibiotic treatment with i. v. ciprofloxacin was started and changed to p. o. after 8 days. Antibiotic therapy was given 11 days total. After the administration of steroids the skin rash resolved.

It is important to draw blood cultures in patients presenting with diarrhea if fever is present. Complications associated with non-typhoidal salmonella bacteremia occur most frequently in elderly patients and include pneumonia, infected aneurysms and bone/soft part infections. In rare cases patients can also present with a skin rash.