33-30: Elizabethkingia Species

Elizabethkingia species (previously known as Flavobacterium and Chryseobacterium species) are gram-negative rods that cause infection primarily in patients with compromised immune systems or multiple other comorbidities. Outbreaks due to the subspecies E meningoseptica and E anopheles have been associated with contaminated water sources and have often occurred in health care facilities. Meningitis and bacteremia as well as skin and bone infections have developed in patients infected with Elizabethkingia. Empiric treatment is piperacillin/tazobactam 4.5 g intravenously four times daily. However, Elizabethkingia species can be resistant to multiple antimicrobials. When an outbreak of Elizabethkingia species infections occurs in a health care setting, the facility's infection control specialists must search for and eliminate the contaminated water source.