ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1639069
Severe lower limb infection by Kerstersia gyiorum: clinical and genomic insights into an underestimated pathogen
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sichuan University West China Hospital Center of Infectious Diseases, Chengdu, China
- 2West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 3Luzhou People's Hospital, Luzhou, China
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Since Kerstersia gyiorum was first described and named in 2003, reports of human infections caused by this organism have gradually increased. Here, we present a detailed report of a severe case of lower right limb infection caused by K. gyiorum that was characterized by rapid disease progression and multidrug resistance. We also present the complete genome sequence of the isolate, WCHKG1. A systematic analysis of the clinical features of our case patient and previous K. gyiorum-infected patients revealed that the most common site of infection was the lungs (48%), and that the organism showed the lowest sensitivity to commonly used quinolones among the major antibiotic classes. Clinical infections caused by K. gyiorum may be underestimated, thus the use of quinolones in treating such infections should be avoided. Genomic and phylogenetic analyses of K. gyiorum identified conservation of antibiotic efflux pump systems and virulence factors, which may play critical roles in its antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity. Furthermore, evidence of clonal transmission in animals suggests a need for vigilance regarding potential clonal spread in clinical settings. Our study contributes to the current understanding of K. gyiorum and offers useful insights to support its clinical management and infection control.
Keywords: Skin and soft tissue infection, whole-genome sequence, Clinical Characteristics, Genomic features, Kerstersia gyiorum
Received: 01 Jun 2025; Accepted: 06 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qin, Tang, Feng, Hu, Liu, Lv and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fang He, Sichuan University West China Hospital Center of Infectious Diseases, Chengdu, China
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