Sepsis caused by food-borne infection with Escherichia coli

Abstract

We report a case of sepsis caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli) of serotype O-143. A 78-year-old man developed symptoms of gastroenteritis after ingesting raw meat on noodles. He rapidly developed respiratory failure. Blood culture grew E. coli. The sepsis seemed to have directly spread from a food-borne infection. The development of primary sepsis after ingesting E. coli is very rare. We suspect that bacterial translocation played a major role. Serotype O-143 is recognized in enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) as well as in Shigella dysenteriae. The pathogen in the present case is suspected of being EIEC although the isolated E. coli strain was negative for the inv and ipa genes.