Paenibacillus
From IDWiki
Background
Microbiology
- Genus of Gram-positive bacilli
- Closely related to Bacillus (the Latin name means "almost Bacillus")
- Environmental bacterium that usually lives in soil
- The more common species that have been isolated from humans include:
- Many other species are also occasionally isolated
- Paenibacillus larvae causes American foulbrood, an infection in honey bees
- Paenibacillus globratella causes deadly infections in snails
Risk Factors
- True infections are more common in immunocompromised patients
Clinical Manifestations
- Common cause of blood culture contamination
- However, can be a true pathogen
Management
- Almost all resistant to ampicillin
- Often resistant to co-trimoxazole
- Can be resistant to vancomycin
- Generally susceptible to erythromycin and rifampin