[Fatal Vibrio vulnificus infection in a patient with aplastic anemia]

The patient was a 59-year-old man who had been in hospital suffering from aplastic anemia with transfusion hemosiderosis. Sudden onset of weakness, shaking chills and headache was observed after his staying out overnight on July 25, 1981. His temperature was 39.3 degrees C and he complained of abdominal pain and abdominal distension. His blood pressure dropped to a dangerous level and tonic convulsions that had begun in the upper body gradually extended to the whole body and he died 23 hours after his return. V. vulnificus was isolated by the blood culture performed before death. During his stay away from the hospital, he had eaten raw cuttlefish, which was considered to be the source of infection. V. vulnificus is one of the halophilic marine vibrios and is isolated frequently in summertime from the sea foods and sea water near Japan. It has been disclosed that the presence of underlying diseases such as liver cirrhosis, hemochromatosis can predispose a person to fatal sepsis by V. vulnificus. In this case, besides leukocytopenia, the presence of hemosiderosis induced by many transfusions was considered to be a major cause leading to the fulminating course of the disease.