Severe watery diarrhoea and bacteraemia caused by Vibrio fluvialis

SummaryIndividual cases and outbreaks of Vibrio fluvialis-associated gastroenteritis have been reported sporadically, with just one fatal bacteraemia case complicated with shigellosis described. We present a patient that suffered from severe watery diarrhoea requiring parenteral hyperalimentation. V. fluvialis simultaneously cultured from stool and blood proved to be the same strain by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The patient was cured with intravenous administration of antibiotics and supportive treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of gastroenteritis and bacteraemia caused by V. fluvialis.