Fatal Pneumonia in an Immunocompetent Individual: Role of Bacillus Cereus

This case clearly demonstrate the need for increased awareness of the potential for B. cereus to cause serious systemic infections, even in patients who appear to be otherwise healthy. Unless there is good liaison between the pathologist and clinicians, their role in genuine infection can be easily overlooked.  Knowing that Bacillus species can cause life-threatening infections in such apparently normal hosts should prevent clinicians from regarding these organisms as mere contaminants when they are recovered from seriously ill patients. Initial empirical treatment with β- lactam antibiotics in patients showing aerobic gram positive rods may be avoided which may preclude the treatment of B.cereus