Cutaneous flavobacteriosis - polymorphous skin granulomas from Flavobacterium capsulatum. A case report

A case of multiple eruptive skin granulomas caused by Flavobacterium capsulatum is discribed. The organism was resistant or poorly sensitive to all antibiotics except carbenicillin. Cure was brought about by using maximal doses of this drug. The source of the infection could not be proved, but it dated from an orthopaedic procedure to the elbow which was followed by a chronic cellulitis at the operation site. Since this is an organism known to occur in stored water, it was presumed that the flavobacterium was introduced into the wound from bottles of boiled and cooled water used in the operating theatre.