Septic Shock and Bacteremia Secondary to Herbaspirillum huttiense: A Case Report and Review of Literature

The Herbaspirillum species are gram-negative bacteria that inhabit soil and water. Infections caused by this pathogen are an uncommon clinical entity. We describe a rare case of septic shock and bacteremia caused by Herbaspirillum huttiense in an immunocompetent adult female. The patient, a 59-year-old female, presented to the hospital with circulatory shock, fever, chills, and cough. Chest x-ray revealed right lower lobe lung consolidation consistent with pneumonia, and blood cultures with a positive concerning gram-negative curved rod which was later identified as H. huttiense. The patient was treated in the ICU for three days with cefepime and vasoactive agents. After improvement and an additional seven days of hospitalization, the patient was discharged home with a five-day course of oral levofloxacin. Although our patient responded well to cefepime and levofloxacin, meropenem and piperacillin-tazobactam were found to be the most commonly used and the most effective antibiotics to treat H. huttiense infections in other reported cases. This is amongst the few reported cases of H. huttiense bacteremia in an immunocompetent individual with pneumonia.