CO Sham, SY Lam, KW Li, PL Ho

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the features of infants infected by Streptococcus bovis in a regional hospital in Hong Kong. Design and setting: Case series. Main measurements: Clinical features of all patients infected by Streptococcus bovis were retrieved from the database of the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Tuen Mun Hospital, from 1999 to 2009. A literature review was also performed concerning this infection in infants. Results: Eight infants were identified from the medical record. All of the patients had Streptococcus bovis bacteraemia. Only 2 of our patients had the bacteria isolated from cerebrospinal fluid. Four of the patients presented with fever. Six of the patients were born at full term while the other 2 were premature babies. Six of the patients presented within the first 7 days of life, while the other 2 presented on Day 23 and Day 46 of life. At least 7 days of intravenous antibiotics were given. All of the patients recovered and none of our patients died. To date, all of our patients had normal growth and development. Conclusions: In our case series, fever was the most common manifestation. Respiratory distress was common but gastrointestinal disturbance was uncommon, which is different from previous reports. Further research has to be performed for better understanding of this bacterial infection in the paediatric population.