Vibrio vulnificus infection after raw oyster ingestion in a patient with liver disease and acquired immune deficiency syndrome-related complex.

Sepsis, peritonitis, and gastroenteritis developed in a 45-yr-old homosexual man 1 day after ingestion of raw oysters. The patient had chronic active hepatitis and cirrhosis with hepatitis B virus and delta-infection. He also had persistent generalized lymphadenopathy associated with HTLV-III antibody positivity. Vibrio vulnificus was isolated from the patient's blood and peritoneal fluid as well as from the same batch of oysters at the restaurant where the patient had visited. To our knowledge, this is the first report relating direct microbiologic and clinical evidence that the infection is acquired through the gastrointestinal tract by consuming raw seafood containing the pathogen. This is also the first reported case of peritonitis associated with sepsis and gastroenteritis from this organism. Patients with liver disease and other immunocompromised states should be warned about such life-threatening infections and complications associated with the consumption of raw oysters or other undercooked seafoods.