Erysipelas of the right arm due to Bordetella trematum: a case report

BACKGROUND: Bordetella trematum is unknown to most clinicians and microbiologists. However, this Gram-negative opportunistic bacterium can be responsible for ulcer superinfection but also bacteremia and sometimes death by septic shock. CASE REPORT: We report the case of erysipelas due to B. trematum with bacteremia in an immunocompromised 88-year-old Caucasian patient. CONCLUSION: In immunocompromised patients, unusual microbial agents such as B. trematum can be responsible for cutaneous and systemic infections, requiring specific antibiotic therapy. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of the need for specific bacterial identification such as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing in the context of atypical evolution of erysipelas in such patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13256-021-02896-1.