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Elizabethkingia meningoseptica — SCE Infectious Diseases MCQ

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HardHealthcare-Associated InfectionsElizabethkingia meningosepticaSCE Infectious Diseases

A 50-year-old man develops a wound infection after abdominal surgery. Wound culture grows an organism identified as Elizabethkingia meningoseptica (formerly Chryseobacterium). This organism has notable intrinsic resistance. What is its key resistance feature?

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Correct answer: D — Intrinsic resistance to most beta-lactams including Carbapenems — but susceptible to Fluoroquinolones, Co-trimoxazole, and Vancomycin (unusually for a Gram-negative)

Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is a Gram-negative rod with a remarkable resistance profile: intrinsically resistant to most beta-lactams (including Carbapenems — due to metallobeta-lactamase production) and aminoglycosides, but uniquely susceptible to Vancomycin (which is normally inactive against Gram-negatives). It is also usually susceptible to Fluoroquinolones, Co-trimoxazole, and Rifampicin. This paradoxical Vancomycin susceptibility in a Gram-negative organism is almost unique to Elizabethkingia and is a classic microbiology teaching point.

Reference: BSAC 2023 – Unusual Gram-negatives; EUCAST 2024