Case reports and antibody confirmation of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis


Kim Kyung Min, Na Kyoung-In, Cho En-Hi*
Division of Infectious Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases Surveillance and Response, KCDC
Hong Sahyun, Jung Su-Mi
Division of Bacterial Diseases, Center for Laboratory Control of Infectious Diseases, KCDC

Background: Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infects humans through contaminated water and food, mainly causing acute gastrointestinal symptoms. In Korea, acute renal failure has been reported in pediatric patients infected with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Clinically suspected Yersinia pseudotuberculosis cases admitted to two university hospitals in Korea were reported for antibody confirmation and epidemiological investigation. In this study, we described the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics of these reported cases of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection.
Methodology/Results: All ten reported cases involved pediatric patients aged 3-15 years (7 male vs. 3 female). Although all of the patients presented with fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, and acute renal failure, they all recovered without any complications after antibiotic treatments. Three patients had a history of mountain spring water intake, and six patients had a history of domestic travel history. However, no common food intake, water ingestion, or travel history were verified among the cases. Serum samples taken from four patients, 54-72 days after symptom onset, were confirmed to be positive for Yersinia IgG and IgA. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was not identified in four samples of mountain spring water, which were ingested by two of the patients (1 seropositive, 1 not-tested).
Conclusion: We present a series of cases in which Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections were clinically suspected. Despite our epidemiological and environmental investigations, the source of infection was not clearly identified. Further surveillance with serologic diagnosis is needed to understand the disease burden and the epidemiology of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections in Korea.

Keywords: Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Case report, Water pollution, Immunoglobulin G, Immunoglobulin A