Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Perinatal/Neonatal Case Presentation
  • Published:

Perinatal/Neonatal Case Presentation

Necrotizing Staphylococcal Pneumonia in a Neonate

Abstract

Hospitalized neonates are commonly colonized soon after birth with Staphylococcus aureus. The majority of neonates do not develop infectious sequelae; however, premature neonates appear to be more susceptible to serious infections, such as pneumonia. We report a case of an extremely low birth weight infant who developed necrotizing pneumonia due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus (MRSA). The MRSA isolate from this neonate is identical to the strains that have been causing primarily community-associated skin and soft tissue infections. The severe course of this patient may be attributed to the presence of the Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene, a well-known virulence factor leading to soft tissue and pulmonary infections.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Palavecino E . Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. Clin Lab Med 2004;24:403–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gillet Y, Issartel B, Vanhems P, et al. Association between Staphylococus aureus strains carrying gene for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and highly lethal necrotising pneumonia in young immunocompetent patients. Lancet 2002;359:753–759.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lina G, Piemont Y, Godail-Gamot F, et al. Involvement of Panton-Valentine leukocidin-producing Staphylococcus aureus in primary skin infections and pneumonia. Clin Infect Dis 1999;29:1128–1132.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Watts JL, Chengappa MM, Cole JR, et al. Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Ninth Information Supplement. Wayne, PA: National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  5. McDougal LK, Steward CD, Killgore GE, Chaitram JM, McAllister SK, Tenover FC . Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing of oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from the United States: establishing a national database. J Clin Microbiol 2003;41:5113–5120.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mongkolrattanothai K, Boyle S, Kahana MD, Daum RS . Severe Staphylococcus aureus infections caused by clonally related community-acquired methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant isolates. Clin Infect Dis 2003;37:1050–1058.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Reischl U, Linde HJ, Metz M, Leppmeier B, Lehn N . Rapid identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and simultaneous species confirmation using real-time fluorescence PCR. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:2429–2433.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. McAdams RM, Mair EA, Rajnik M . Neonatal suppurative submandibular sialadenitis: case report and literature review. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2005;69:993–997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Tenover FC, Abreit RD, Goering RV, et al. Interpreting chromosomal DNA restriction patterns produced by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis: criteria for bacterial strain typing. J Clin Microbiol 1995;33:2233–2239.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Graham PL, Morel AS, Zhou J, et al. Epidemiology of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2002;23:677–682.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Cimolai N . Staphylococcus aureus outbreaks among newborns: new frontiers in an old dilemma. Am J Perinatol 2003;20:125–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Gooch JJ, Britt EM . Staphylococcus aureus colonization and infection in newborn nursery patients. Am J Dis Child 1978;132:893–896.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Boubaker K, Diebold P, Blanc DS, et al. Panton-Valentine leukocidin and staphyloccoccal skin infections in schoolchildren. Emerg Infect Dis 2004;10:121–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Healy CM, Hulten KG, Palazzi DL, Campbell JR, Baker CJ . Emergence of new strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a neonatal intensive care unit. Clin Infect Dis 2004;39:1460–1466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

The opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not represent the views of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McAdams, R., Mazuchowski, E., Ellis, M. et al. Necrotizing Staphylococcal Pneumonia in a Neonate. J Perinatol 25, 677–679 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211364

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211364

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links