A Case of Weissella confusa Isolated from Blood of a Patient with Coronary Heart Disease Complicated with Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Abstract

Introduction

W. confusa has been known to cause various human infections. It is naturally resistant to vancomycin and is difficult to identify using traditional methods, which may lead to misidentification and delay treatment.

Case Presentation

We present a case of a 42-year-old male patient with gastrointestinal bleeding and coronary heart disease who developed sepsis caused by Weissella confusa. The patient’s blood cultures showed the presence of gram-positive coccobacilli, later identified as W. confusa through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that W. confusa had low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for some drugs (eg, ampicillin) and higher MICs for others (eg, cefotaxime). Empirical treatment with vancomycin was initially started, but after obtaining the identification and susceptibility results, the treatment was switched to meropenem combined with daptomycin, resulting in a successful outcome.

Conclusion

Weissella confusa bacteremia is relatively rare, and accurate pathogenic diagnosis is essential for effective clinical treatment.

Keywords:

• Weissella confusa
• bacterial identification
• 16S rRNA
• matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Data Sharing Statement

All data and materials used in this study are provided within the manuscript. No additional data or materials are available.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

This study was approved by the ethical review committee of the Wuhan Asia General Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology. Written informed consent was obtained from patients in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for Publication

The patient of this report had already agreed and signed the consent form.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the clinical staff contributed to the study.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial relations or financial relationships of interest that might be a constant of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Wuhan Municipal Health Commission Scientific Research Project (WX21D49). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.