Infections à Campylobacter : tableaux cliniques, prise en charge diagnostique et thérapeutique

Campylobacter is an ubiquitous pathogen responsible for extremely common intestinal infections worldwide. Human contamination mainly occurs after ingestion of poultry (main tank) or contaminated water. The most commonly species found in human pathology are Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. Campylobacter can cause many clinical manifestations including acute gastroenteritis which can be severe with bloody diarrhea. Extra-intestinal manifestations can be observed, especially bacteremia. Clinical manifestations depend on the species involved. Campylobacter fetus is known to be frequently responsible for bloodstream infections in patients with comorbidities. Campylobacter infections may be complicated by rare but serious post-infectious immunological events (reactive arthritis and Guillain-Barré syndrome). Diagnosis is made by isolation of Campylobacter in the stool or blood cultures. Evolution is benign most of the time and requires only symptomatic treatment. Antibiotic treatment should be reserved for severe cases or patients with comorbidities. Macrolides are then the treatment of choice. Recently, new emerging species of Campylobacter have been identified. These data open the way for research on the role of microbiota in many digestive disorders including inflammatory bowel disease.