Bacteraemia caused by Actinobaculum schaalii: An overlooked pathogen?

Abstract

Actinobaculum schaalii is a uropathogen resistant to ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole. It requires a long culture time and specific conditions, and is therefore easily overgrown by other bacteria and regarded as part of the normal bacterial flora. We review 17 cases of A. schaalii bacteraemia, demonstrating its invasive potential. A. schaalii should always be ruled out as causative agent in patients with urinary tract infection or urosepticaemia with treatment failure.

Keywords::

• Actinobaculum schaalii
• bacteraemia
• urosepticaemia
• urinary tract infection

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Peggy Bergquist at the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital, for skilful technical assistance.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.