Chryseobacterium/Elizabethkingia species infections in Saudi Arabia

To describe the epidemiological, clinical, and outcome data of patients infected or colonized with Chryseobacterium/Elizabethkingia spp including antibiotic susceptibility patterns.

This retrospective study was conducted at Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh,  Saudi Arabia. All patients infected or colonized by Chryseobacterium /Elizabethkingia spp who were admitted between June 2013 and May 2019 were included. Data were extracted from patient electronic medical records.

We enrolled 27 patients (13 males and 14 females) with a mean age of 35.6 years. Chryseobacterium/Elizabethkingia spp were isolated from blood cultures (n=13, 48%) and tracheal aspirations (n=11, 41%). The most frequent species isolated was Elizabethkingia meningoseptica (n=22). Although 6 patients were considered colonized, the remaining 21 patients presented with ventilator associated pneumonia (n=9), central line associated bloodstream infection (n=4), septic shock (n=4), or isolated bacteremia (n=4). In 25 cases the infections were health-care related. Three patients (11%) died within 28 days. Twenty-six isolates (96.5%) were resistant to carbapenems. Moxifloxacin and cotrimoxazole were the most active antibiotics.

Chryseobacterium/Elizabethkingia spp infection is rare, but can be responsible for severe hospital acquired infections. Cotrimoxazole and fluoroquinolone are the most effective antibiotic treatments.