Case Report: Campylobacter Bacteremia in India

Gastroenteritis is the frequent clinical manifestation of infection by Campylobacter spp., whereas invasive infections such as bacteremia are less commonly reported. We report 12 cases of Campylobacter bacteremia from a tertiary-care hospital in India and describe their relatively unique characteristics compared with the previously published reports. These cases were detected after the introduction of new blood culture media. The most common symptoms were fever (eight cases, 67%), abdominal pain (six cases, 50%), and vomiting (four cases, 33%), whereas only two cases (17%) had diarrhea. Chronic liver disease was the common underlying condition affecting eight patients (75%). The median Child-Pugh and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease scores were 9 (interquartile range: 7-9.5) and 20 (interquartile range: 15-23) respectively. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated in six patients (50%), two of whom had preceding diarrhea and one patient who had culture evidence of C. jejuni in ascitic fluid. The in-hospital mortality was 8%, but this was due to subsequent Escherichia coli sepsis.