Nocardia is a Gram-positive aerobic pathogen that usually affects immunocompromised patients. We report a case of pulmonary infection caused by a rare Nocardia species, Nocardia beijingensis, in a 50-year-old woman who had received alemtuzumab for the treatment of her multiple sclerosis. The invasive pulmonary infection was successfully treated with meropenem.
HavariETurnerMJCampos-RiveraJ. Impact of alemtuzumab treatment on the survival and function of human regulatory T cells in vitro. Immunology2013; 141: 123–131.
2.
CoxALThompsonSAJonesJL. Lymphocyte homeostasis following therapeutic lymphocyte depletion in multiple sclerosis. Eur J Immunol2005; 35: 3332–3342.
3.
WillisMDRobertsonNP.Alemtuzumab for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Ther Clin Risk Manag2015; 11: 525–534.
4.
KageyamaAPoonwanNYazawaK.Nocardia beijingensis is a pathogenic bacterium to humans: The first infectious cases in Thailand and Japan. Mycopathologia2004; 157: 155–161.
5.
BabijRPerumalJS.Comparative efficacy of alemtuzumab and established treatment in the management of multiple sclerosis. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat2015; 11: 1221–1229.
6.
WrayS.On behalf of the CAMMS223 study group. Descriptive analysis of infectious adverse events in alemtuzumab-treated multiple sclerosis patients. In: Proceedings of the 25th congress of the European committee for treatment and research in multiple sclerosis, Düsseldorf, 9–12 September 2009, p. S247.
7.
RauDLangMHarthA. Listeria meningitis complicating alemtuzumab treatment in multiple sclerosis—Report of two cases. Int J Mol Sci2015; 16(7): 14669–14676.
8.
PelegAYHusainSKwakEJ. Opportunistic infections in 547 organ transplant recipients receiving alemtuzumab, a humanized monoclonal CD-52 antibody. Clin Infect Dis2007; 44(2): 204–212.
9.
PenkertHDelbridgeCWantiaN. Fulminant central nervous system nocardiosis in a patient treated with alemtuzumab for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. JAMA Neurol2016; 73: 757–759.
10.
CrozierJAAndhavarapuSBrumbleLM. First report of Nocardia beijingensis infection in an immunocompetent host in the United States. J Clin Microbiol2014; 52(7): 2730–2732.