Drug sensitivity and clinical impact of members of the genus Kocuria

Abstract

Organisms in the genusKocuriaare Gram-positive, coagulase-negative, coccoid actinobacteria belonging to the familyMicrococcaceae, suborderMicrococcineae, orderActinomycetales. Sporadic reports in the literature have dealt with infections byKocuriaspecies, mostly in compromised hosts with serious underlying conditions. Nonetheless, the number of infectious processes caused by such bacteria may be higher than currently believed, given that misidentification by phenotypic assays has presumably affected estimates of the prevalence over the years. As a further cause for concern, guidelines for therapy of illnesses involvingKocuriaspecies are lacking, mostly due to the absence of established criteria for evaluatingKocuriareplication or growth inhibition in the presence of antibiotics. Therefore, breakpoints for staphylococci have been widely used throughout the literature to try to understand this pathogen's behaviour under drug exposure; unfortunately, this has sometimes created confusion, thus higlighting the urgent need for specific interpretive criteria, along with a deeper investigation into the resistance determinants within this genus. We therefore review the published data on cultural, genotypic and clinical aspects of the genusKocuria, aiming to shed some light on these emerging nosocomial pathogens.