ABSTRACT

A. baumannii is a gram-negative and non-fermentative bacterium. It causes serious pneumonia resulting in ARDS in intensive care units. In this report we present a case of acute tonsillitis that developed in a hospital employee after contact with a patient diagnosed with A. baumannii pneumonia in intensive care. The tonsillitis progressed to sepsis and A. baumannii was found in the superficial culture. The 31-year-old male hospital employee was admitted to our emergency department with complaints of fatigue, pain in his joints, dysphagia and sore throat lasting for one day. Physical examination revealed hyperaemia and crypts in both tonsils (particularly in the right one). A. baumannii was detected in the superficial tonsil culture taken at different times from the case, and clinical recovery was not observed after standard antibiotic treatment for tonsillitis. Rapid clinical recovery was observed once meropenem treatment was initiated. We would like to stress that the infecting organism in upper respiratory infections of hospital personnel at risk of contamination may differ from that in the normal population. We also wish to highlight the fact that A. baumannii acquired in connection with health care is very rare but can cause a serious tonsillitis infection.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii, acute tonsillitis, nosocomial infection