Shewanella algae is a mesophilic (prefers temperatures 20-45°C) bacteria found in seawater. It is associated with a number of infections, especially in immunocompromised patients.
Clinical features of cutaneous infections:
(1) The patient is typically immunocompromised
(2) The patient has skin exposure to seawater in a tropical or subtropical region.
(3) The patient has often has a break in the skin (abrasion, cut, ulcer, etc).
The diagnosis is made by culture of a wound with isolation of Gram-negative bacilli that is catalase- and oxidase-positive.
Differential diagnosis:
(1) Vibrio species
(2) Aeromonas hydrophila
(3) atypical Mycobacteria
Therapy involves a third generation cephalosporin plus (gentamicin or quinolone). Antibiotic resistance can be a problem with other agents so susceptibility testing should be performed on the isolate.
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