Parotitis associated with Eikenella corrodens in a healthy adult

Eikenella corrodens is a gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic rod that is part of the normal oral flora. Although its pathogenicity was uncertain until recently, E corrodens has been implicated in a variety of human infections, usually in mixed culture, and commonly in patients predisposed by virtue of trauma, malignant neoplasms, antecedent surgery, or parenteral drug abuse. Parotitis due to E corrodens occurred in a healthy 72-year-old woman. Therapy with high-dose intravenous oxacillin sodium had been without effect, but surgical drainage plus antibiotic therapy directed against E corrodens produced prompt resolution.