[Cutaneous ulceration after an octopus bite: infection due to Vibrio alginolyticus, an emerging pathogen].
BACKGROUND
Vibrio alginolyticus is an anaerobic Gram-negative bacillus found in normal marine flora and is considered as non pathogenic for humans. Infections due to Vibrio alginolyticus are seldom reported and can be seen after exposure to seawater or to marine animals.


METHODS
A 51-year-old man was bitten on the back of the hand by an octopus that had just been caught in the Mediterranean Sea. A painful inflammatory cutaneous ulceration developed and did not heal despite treatment with bacitracin-neomycin ointment. The bacteriological smear revealed the presence of Vibrio alginolyticus. The ulceration progressively healed without sequelae after two weeks of oral ciprofloxacin therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
The most common, though rarely reported, infections due to Vibrio alginolyticus are otitis, conjunctivitis, superficial pyodermatitis and gastroenteritis. There is an increasing obvious fact about potentially serious and life-threatening infections due to Vibrio alginolyticus especially in immunocompromised patients. This bacillus can colonize skin tissue by penetrating a skin abrasion. In our case, the patient sustained a wound from the octopus's beak. Vibrio alginolyticus should be included in the list of pathogens causing skin infections, especially if patients have been in contact with seawater in warm climate regions or with marine animals. The optimal antibiotic therapy for Vibrio alginolyticus has not been determined and antibiotic resistance could constitute an important complication.
Campanelli
A
A
Service de dermatologie et vénéréologie, hôpitaux universitaires de Genève, 24, rue Micheli-du-Crest, 1211 Genève 14, Suisse. alexandre.campanelli@hcuge.ch
Sanchez-Politta
S
S
Saurat
J H
JH
D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001733:Bites and Stings; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049831:Octopodiformes; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D002939:Ciprofloxacin