Fulminant arterial vasculitis as an unusual complication of disseminated staphylococcal disease due to the emerging CC1 methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus clone: a case report

• Main Authors: Charles Vidal, Florence Moulin, Xavier Nassif, Louise Galmiche, Delphine Borgel, Alain Charbit, Capucine Picard, Jean-Paul Mira, Olivier Lortholary, Anne Jamet, Julie Toubiana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-04-01
• Series: BMC Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: S. aureus; Sepsis; Vasculitis; Virulence; Genetic susceptibility; Polymorphism
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12879-019-3933-3
• ISSN: 1471-2334

Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus has emerged as a leading cause of invasive severe diseases with a high rate of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and outcome observed in staphylococcal illness may be a consequence of both microbial factors and variability of the host immune response. Case presentation A 14-years old child developed limb ischemia with gangrene following S. aureus bloodstream infection. Histopathology revealed medium-sized arterial vasculitis. The causing strain belonged to the emerging clone CC1-MSSA and numerous pathogenesis-related genes were identified. Patient’s genotyping revealed functional variants associated with severe infections. A combination of virulence and host factors might explain this unique severe form of staphylococcal disease. Conclusion A combination of virulence and genetic host factors might explain this unique severe form of staphylococcal disease.