Pantoea agglomerans in Hospitals and Foods

Background and Objectives:Pantoeaagglomerans is a Gram-negative bacilli belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. This emerging opportunistic pathogen often in association with other common pathogenic bacteria can cause infection in infants, children and adults especially in hospitalized patients.Materials and Methods: We searched medical databases such as ISI Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. The key words for the review of literature were as follows: Pantoeaagglomerans,93genetics, epidemiology, transmission routes, clinical manifestation, treatment and prevention of infections. This review is focused on the role of thePantoeaagglomerans in humans infections.Results: The strains of Pantoeaagglomerans and related species should be classified as biosafety level 2(BL2) organisms, essentially not because of accidental infections, but because of the important occupational hazard due to potential inhalation exposure to strong endotoxins and allergens produced by Pantoea strains.Pantoeaagglomerans can cause opportunistic infections in human, although is not an obligate infectious agent in human community.Also this bacterium can cause different infections in human community or hospitalized patients in immudeficient individuals and immunocompetent.Conclusion: Contamination of different foods such as infant-milk formula with P. agglomerans is critical.The hospital-acquired infections caused by P. agglomerans with identified source of contamination. The inherent potency of this bacterium to remain viable and multiply at room temperature may contribute to such contamination.Variety of resources should be targeted at sustaining and optimizing good hand hygiene in hospital units and hospitalization patients.

Keywords:

Hospitalized patients , Pantoeaagglomerans , Pathogenesis , Mode of transmission