Burkholderia Cepacia Sepsis: A Neonatal Case

Burkholderia cepacia is an aerobic, glucose non-fermenting, motile, and multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria, which is not considered from the normal human flora. It is a rare cause of sepsis in newborns, and its transmission involves human contact with heavily contaminated medical devices and disinfectants. 

We describe a rare case of sepsis by B. cepacia in a pre-term infant, diagnosed in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital, Marrakesh. 

He was a male newborn, he was a pre-term with intrauterine growth-retarded, he was admitted for sepsis. The diagnosis was made by blood culture. The treatment was a bi-antibiotic treatment: imipenem and aminoglycoside. The outcome was fatal after nine days. 

B. cepacia is a nosocomial pathogen of humans in both immunocompromised and hospitalized patients. It causes infections that are proving difficult to treat because of both high intrinsic (aminoglycosides and colistin) and acquired resistance (β-lactams). We conclude that the drugs are already limited in these bacteria. Progress remains to be made in antibiotic therapy, as molecules are often active in vitro, especially in vivo.