Serratia marcescens bacteremia associated with schistosomiasis mansoni

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Sérgio de Andrade Nishioka, Marcelo Simão Ferreira, Marcius Kleber Nunes Burgarelli
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 1992
• Subjects: Bacteremia; Esquistossomose mansônica; Schistosoma mansoni; Serratia marcescens; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86821992000300007; https://doaj.org/article/d16ce935b08940b2a94d2417bf6ca10e

The case of a 21 -year-old man coming from rural Paraíba, northeastern Brazil, with schistosomiasis mansoni associated with Serratia marcescens bacteremia, is reported. His main complaints on admission were fever, diaphoresis and chills for ten days, and diarrhoea that lasted for four days. On physical examination he hadjaundice and hepatosplenomegaly. Diagnosis of S. marcescens bacteremia was made by isolation of the bacterium in blood culture, and schistosomiasis was diagnosed by rectal and liver biopsies. This is the first time that the association of S. marcescens bacteremia and schistosomiasis mansoni is recognized. Although our case does not fit into the classic definition of prolonged bacteremia associated with schistosomiasis, it can be considered as a mild form of this association. With the improvement of medical assistance and laboratory facilities, early diagnosis of this association will be made more frequently, cases with short duration will be diagnosed few days after the start of the symptoms, and classic prolonged cases will become rarer.