Diagnosis in France of a Non-Toxigenic tox Gene-Bearing Strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae in a Young Male Back From Senegal

Typhaine Billard-Pomares; Cécile Rouyer; Violaine Walewski; Edgar Badell-Ocando; Marc Dumas; Coralie Zumelzu; Françoise Jaureguy; Sylvain Brisse; Frédéric Caux; Olivier Bouchaud; Etienne Carbonnelle

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofw271

Diagnosis in France of a Non-Toxigenic tox Gene-Bearing Strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae in a Young Male Back From Senegal

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017 Jan 9;4(1):ofw271. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofw271. eCollection 2017 Winter.

Authors

Typhaine Billard-Pomares^{1

2}, Cécile Rouyer³, Violaine Walewski^{1

2}, Edgar Badell-Ocando⁴, Marc Dumas⁵, Coralie Zumelzu⁵, Françoise Jaureguy^{1

2}, Sylvain Brisse⁴, Frédéric Caux⁵, Olivier Bouchaud³, Etienne Carbonnelle^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Microbiology Department, Hôpital Avicenne, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Bobigny, France.
² Infection, Antimicrobiens, Modélisation, Evolution, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1137, Université Paris 13 - Sorbonne Paris Cité, France.
³ Infectious Diseases Unit, Hôpital Avicenne, AP-HP, Bobigny, France.
⁴ Institut Pasteur, National Reference Center for Corynebacteria of the diphtheriae Complex, Paris, France.
⁵ Dermatology Department, Hôpital Avicenne, AP-HP, Bobigny, France.

Abstract

Cutaneous diphtheria is uncommon in Europe. In this study, we report a case of imported cutaneous infection due to a non-toxigenic but tox gene-bearing (NTTB) strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The NTTB strains are recognized as emerging pathogens across Europe, and physicians and bacteriologists should be aware of the circulation of these strains.

Keywords: Corynebacterium diphtheria; MALDI-TOF MS; cutaneous diphtheria; infectious disease; tox gene..