Vibrio vulnificus causes very severe infections. The organism is isolated, for the most part, from the blood, and skin lesions. Isolation from other sources, including the urine, is very rate. Four cases of V. vulnificus septicemia were bacteriologically diagnosed in 1984 and 1985 at Severance Hospital. All of the patients were men, 42 years and older, with preexisting liver disease. All of them showed hypotension and secondary skin lesions, and all expired. The organism was isolated from the blood in all patients, from the peritoneal fluid in one, and from skin lesions in two. From one patient, isolation from a urine speAmen was also accomplished. All of the isolates were typical in their characteristics such as in their forming green colonies on Thiosulfate citrate bile sucrose (TCBS) agar, delayed acid production from lactose, and growth in broth with 6% NaCl.
Adult ; Human ; Middle Age ; Septicemia/diagnosis* ; Vibrio/isolation & purification ; Vibrio Infections/diagnosis*

A 40-yr-old buddhist monk was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain, fever, and confusion. He had a history of drinking untreated mountain spring water in his temple, and experienced the above symptoms for several days before admission. In past medical history, he had suffered from hepatic cirrhosis. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was isolated from his blood and ascitic fluid. The mountain spring water that he had ingested was cultivated and Y. pseudotuberculosis was also isolated. For identification of pathogenic Y. pseudotuberculosis, each isolate from the three sources (blood, ascitic fluid, and drinking water) was also analysed for the inv gene for Y. pseudotuberculosis and the virF gene for virulent plasmid by PCR. All strains were positive for both the virF and the inv genes and also positive for autoagglutination test. For relationship study, each isolate from the three sources was also analysed with serotyping and restriction endonuclease analysis of virulence plasmid DNA (REAP) using BamHI. All belonged to the serotype 4b and REAP pattern D. Thus, all these findings supported that the mountain spring water was the source of the Y. pseudotuberculosis infection in this case.
Adhesins, Bacterial/genetics ; Adult ; Agglutination Tests ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; DNA, Bacterial/analysis ; Feces/microbiology ; Food ; Human ; Male ; Plasmids ; Restriction Mapping ; Septicemia/diagnosis/microbiology ; Serotyping ; Virulence Factors/genetics ; *Water Supply ; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infections/*diagnosis/*transmission