Neonatal early onset sepsis due to Moraxella osloensis: Case-report and revision of the literature

Abstract

We report the first case of early-onset systemic neonatal infection associated with Moraxella osloensis bacteriemia in a full term baby. The genus Moraxella is constituted by a group of pleomorphic bacteria obligate aerobes, Gram-negative, oxidase positive and indole negative infrequently isolated from clinical specimens. The organism is rarely reported in the literature as the causative agent of infection in humans, mostly in immunocompromised patients. Only 12 cases of M. osloensisrelated infections during childhood have been reported in the literature so far. This unique report of M. osloensis infection, during the neonatal period, concerns the isolation of the bacteria in purulent secretions from the eyes of a 3-week-old baby with opthalmia. In our patient, the precocity of the onset of symptoms allows us to hypothesize a vertical transmission of the bacteria.