Bordetella bronchiseptica infection.

OBJECTIVE: To collect data of all patients admitted to hospital with a positive test to Bordetella bronchiseptica between 2001 and 2015.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective monocentric study of all hospitalized patients over the past 15 years with a positive test to B. bronchiseptica.

RESULTS: Nine patients were included between 2001 and 2015; two presented with infectious relapses, i.e. a total of 14 positive test samples were observed. Age, induced immunodeficiency, and preexisting respiratory illnesses are risk factors. All patients showed symptoms at sample collection and the infection was exclusively respiratory. The diagnosis was obtained through a cytobacteriological test of sputum, bronchial aspiration, or bronchial fibroscopy with a bronchoalveolar lavage. The drug susceptibility test revealed a natural resistance to cephalosporins including ceftazidime, monobactam, and fosfomycin. There were cases of resistance to penicillin A and to the trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole association. The classically used antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia is based on probability and may thus fail. Four patients died. The duration and nature of the antibiotics to use have not been codified.

CONCLUSION: B. bronchiseptica infection mainly affects the elderly. All patients should be treated, regardless of the importance of the inoculum, and all infected animals should be treated.