Recurrent bacteremia due to Brevibacterium casei in an immunocompromised patient.

A case of an immunocompromised patient who experienced two episodes of septicemia caused by a coryneform bacterium is reported. Biochemical characteristics and analysis of cellular fatty acids and of cell wall components showed two identical strains of Brevibacterium casei to be responsible for these infections. The lack of easy-to-perform methods for identification may have led, in the past, to an underestimation of the role of this bacterium, especially in immunocompromised patients.