Invasive Infection With Hypermucoviscous Klebsiella pneumoniae: Multiple Cases Presenting to a Single Emergency Department in the United States
A distinctive form of community-acquired invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae infection has been well described in Southeast Asia for more than 2 decades. The clinical syndrome includes liver abscess, bacteremia, and metastatic infection. It has recently been linked to a virulent hypermucoviscous K pneumoniae phenotype and to a specific genotype. As of 2008, there were only 2 published cases of invasive infection caused by this strain of K pneumoniae in the United States. We report 4 recent cases presenting to a single public hospital emergency department in northern California, which may signal the emergence of this clinical syndrome in North America.
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Supervising editor: Gregory J. Moran, MD
Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.
Publication date: Available online January 8, 2009.
PII: S0196-0644(08)02007-6
doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.11.007
© 2008 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
