A case report of <i>Vibrio mimicus</i> bloodstream infection

<p>Vibrio mimicus resides in marine water, sea mud and fisheries, and causes gastroenteritis and diarrhea as food poisoning after taking seafoods, which usually produce mild symptoms. We recently experienced a case with blood infection of V. mimicus which is a very rare condition with this species; this is the fifth case to the best of our knowledge. Case presentation: An 84-year-old male patient felt an abdominal fulness from the morning and visited his family doctor. He did not receive any special treatment at the time because he did not show a fever or serious signs. On the same day in the evening, he was taken to the emergency room of our hospital because of a high fever and recurrent vomiting with confusion. Infective enteritis was suspected from the findings of abdominal CT. The administration of ceftriaxone (CTRX) was started after taking two sets of blood culture samples, which revealed to be positive for Vibrio mimicus on the next day. The symptoms became better after the beginning of the antibiotic treatment for 10 days. Finally, he was discharged on the hospital day 13. Bacterial species belonging to the genus Vibrio commonly exhibit Gram-negative curved bacilli-like morphology. It would be valuable to report probable Vibrio infections upon this characteristic microscopic finding to improve clinical management through the early diagnosis and the appropriate antibiotic treatments.</p>