Gemella morbillorum as the Culprit Organism of Post-Colonoscopy Necrotizing Perineal Soft Tissue Infection in a Diabetic Patient With Crohns Disease

Abstract

Gemellsa morbillorum (G. morbillorum) is a Gram-positive facultative anaerobe and a known commensal organism of the oropharyngeal and gastrointestinal tracts. It is considered a rare cause of infections in humans. Most of the documented infections, whereas G. morbillorum has been implicated as a causative pathogen, were infective endocarditis and deep visceral abscesses. However, there are only a handful of cases in the current literature that have reported G. morbillorum as the primary organism causing necrotizing soft tissue infections. The authors presented a rare case of post-colonoscopy necrotizing perineal soft tissue infections in an elderly patient with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and Crohns disease with G. morbillorum being the culprit pathogen of this necrotizing infection. The reported case raises concerns for this commensal organism as an emerging virulent pathogen in certain high-risk patients. The authors proposed that a combination of the long-standing Crohns disease and the recent colonoscopy with rectal polypectomy has predisposed the patient to G. morbillorum bacteremia with perineal sepsis in the setting of diabetic immunosuppression. Further studies are warranted to ascertain whether G. morbillorum is acquiring increased virulence that would have enabled this organism to cause novel soft tissue infections.

J Med Cases. 2022;13(3):99-103
doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc3896