Carbon dioxide-dependent, extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli bacteremia associated with...

Escherichia coli is a facultative anaerobic bacterium that causes urinary tract and bloodstream infections. Generally, E. coli is easily identified in routine clinical microbiology laboratories. Herein, we report a case of pyelonephritis with bacteremia due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli, which delayed the identification of the isolate as it exhibited carbon dioxide (CO₂)-dependent growth. The patient was a 62-year-old man who presented with nausea and an altered mental status. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed multiple abscesses in the left kidney. The anaerobic bottles of the two sets of blood cultures were positive, but growth on a routine aerobic culture was weak. Identification of the isolate was delayed because it grew only on agar plates incubated in a 5 % CO₂ atmosphere. The isolate was suspected to be an ESBL-producing strain based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing, which was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction analysis. The patient was successfully treated with administering meropenem and nephrectomy. To the best-of-our-knowledge, this is the first reported case of a human infection caused by ESBL-producing carbon-dioxide-dependent E. coli.