Worldwide survey of Corynebacterium striatum increasingly associated with human invasive infections, nosocomial outbreak, and antimicrobial multidrug-resistance, 1976-2020

Corynebacterium striatum is part of microbiota of skin and nasal mucosa of humans and has been increasingly reported as the etiologic agent of community-acquired and nosocomial diseases. Antimicrobial multidrug-resistant (MDR) C. striatum strains have been increasingly related to various nosocomial diseases and/or outbreaks worldwide, including fatal invasive infections in immunosuppressed and immunocompetent patients. Although cases of infections by C. striatum still neglected in some countries, the improvement of microbiological techniques and studies led to the increase of survival of patients with C. striatum nosocomial infections at different levels of magnitude. Biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces contributes for the persistence of virulent C. striatum and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in hospital environment. Besides that, empirical antibiotic therapy can select multi-resistant strains and transfer intra and interspecies genes horizontally. In this study, a worldwide survey of C. striatum human infections and nosocomial outbreaks was accomplished by the analysis of clinical-epidemiological and microbiological features of reported cases from varied countries, during a 44-year period (1976-2020).

Automated summary

Corynebacterium striatum, a part of human skin and nasal mucosa microbiota, is increasingly being identified as the etiologic agent of both community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Multidrug-resistant strains of C. striatum have been associated with various nosocomial diseases worldwide, contributing to fatal invasive infections in immunosuppressed and immunocompetent patients. Improved microbiological techniques have led to better survival rates for patients with C. striatum nosocomial infections, while biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces plays a role in the persistence of virulent strains and the spread of antimicrobial resistance.