Probiotics-relatedClostridium butyricumbacteraemia after COVID-19, confirmed by whole-genome sequencing

Abstract

A man in his 70s was admitted to an intensive care unit with severe COVID-19 and treated with dexamethasone and tocilizumab. After recovery from COVID-19, he developedClostridium butyricumbacteraemia and non-occlusive mesenteric ischaemia, with fatal outcome. He had been prescribedC. butyricumMIYAIRI 588 fine granules as probiotics for a month. The genome sequences of theC. butyricumisolate from the blood culture andC. butyricumMIYAIRI 588 fine granules were identical by single nucleotide polymorphism analysis. This is the first case of definitive probiotics-relatedC. butyricumbacteraemia after treatment of severe COVID-19.