Chromobacterium violaceum is a facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacillus which inhabits stagnant water in tropical and subtropical regions. We describe the case of an 80-year-old female patient with C. violaceum bacteremia due to traumatic wound infected by contaminated water and soil. She had persistent fever, hypotension and neutrophilic leukocytosis on admission. Two sets of blood cultures yielded C. violaceum. The patient was successfully treated with levofloxacin. Since the first case from Malaysia in 1927, about 150 cases have been reported in the world literature. To our knowledge, six other cases have been reported previously from Taiwan, including two children and four adults. Of the total of seven patients from Taiwan, four had a fatal outcome within several days, while the three survivors were apparently free of vital organ involvement. Although human infections caused by C. violaceum are rare, clinicians should be aware of this potentially fatal infection as part of the differential diagnosis of sepsis associated with a history of exposure to stagnant water.
Though Chromobacterium violaceum is a common inhabitant of soil and water in tropical and sub-tropical regions, human infections are rare but when they do occur result in high mortality. Since the first case from Malaysia in 1927, about 150 cases have been reported in world literature. Till date 6 cases have been reported from southern and eastern parts of India. We report here a case of C. violaceum septicaemia, probably the first case from north India. The patient, a 6 and a half year old boy was admitted with high fever. The patient had anaemia, neutrophilic leucocytosis and bilateral chest infiltrates. Routine and bacteriological investigations were carried out to establish the aetiological diagnosis. C. violaceum was isolated in pure culture from blood and pus. The patient was successfully treated with ciprofloxacin and amikacin. This is probably the first documented case report of C. violaceum infection from north India and the only Indian case with septicaemia which survived.