Case Report
2019 March
Volume : 7 Issue : 1


Kocuria varians – An emerging cause of ocular infections

Anita K Videkar, Pranathi B, Madhuri Gadde, Nashrah Nooreen

Pdf Page Numbers :- 14-17

Anita K Videkar1,*, Pranathi B1, Madhuri Gadde1 and Nashrah Nooreen1

 

1Department of Ophthalmology, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Minister Road, Secunderabad

 

*Corresponding author: Dr. Anita K Videkar, DNB resident, Department of Ophthalmology, KIMS Eye Care, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Minister Road, Secunderabad-500003, Telangana, India. Mobile no: 7032295273; Email: dr.anitagk@gmail.com

 

Received 18 September 2018; Revised 08 November 2018; Accepted 22 November 2018; Published 06 December 2018

 

Citation: Videkar AK, Pranathi B, Gadde M, Nooreen N. Kocuria varians – An emerging cause of ocular infections. J Med Sci Res. 2019; 7(1):14-17. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17727/JMSR.2019/7-4

 

Copyright: © 2019 Videkar AK et al. Published by KIMS Foundation and Research Center. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Abstract

Purpose: We report a rare case of recurrent conjunctivitis caused by gram positive aerobic microorganism Kocuria varians, which is a nonpathogenic commensal of skin, mucosa and oropharynx.

Methods: A 58-year-old male with diabetes mellitus and hypertension presented to us with both eyes recurrent redness, watering, discharge and burning sensation since 3 months. On examination his best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 6/9, N6 in right eye and 6/6, N6 in left eye. On anterior segment examination there was upper and lower lid edema with matting of lashes, diffuse congestion, chemosis and pseudomembranes in both eyes. In view of recurrent conjunctivitis, conjunctival swab was taken and sent for culture and sensitivity.

Results: The organism was identified as Kocuria varians sensitive to chloramphenicol, gentamycin and resistant to levofloxacin. 2 weeks post treatment with chloramphenicol, patient improved symptomatically and repeat culture showed no growth.

Conclusion: With increasing reports of infections associated with these bacteria, it is now important for clinical microbiologists to identify and enumerate the virulence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of such bacteria and for ophthalmologists in improving the patient care and management.

 

Keywords: Kocuria varians; recurrent conjunctivitis; immunocompromised individuals; ocular infection; chloramphenicol

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