Tatumella ptyseos septicaemia in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria: a case report

Abstract

Tatumella ptyseos septicaemia in humans is yet to be reported in Nigeria with very few cases reported worldwide. This case report describes the clinical and distinctive biochemical characteristics of Tatumella ptyseos, its antibiotic sensitivity pattern and risk factors associated with Tatumella ptyseos septicaemia. Our case is a 2 months old ex-premature female from Calabar, admitted in the month of May, 2018 into the Children´s Emergency Room, of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. She presented with cough of one month and fever of three weeks, and was found to be acutely ill looking, febrile with temperature of 38.6°C, mildly pale, dyspnoeic and tachypnoeic with SPO₂ of 80% in room air, tender hepatomegaly of 6cm and a splenomegaly of 6cm. Blood culture yielded Gram negative rods identified as Tatumella ptyseos by OXOID MICROBACT™ GNB identification kit.