Helicobacter pylori Bacteremia with Sepsis Syndrome

A 65-year-old woman with a history of gastric bleeding, breast cancer, antineoplastic chemotherapy, and prednisone use presented with a fever, chest pain, a dry cough, hypotension, and prominent pulmonary bronchovascular markings. She was treated with piperacillin-tazobactam and azithromycin and rapidly improved. Six days later, the blood culture grew a pleomorphic Gram-negative bacillus. Initial subculture failed, but the organism was identified as Helicobacter pylori by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The bacterium eventually grew on brucella agar upon extended incubation.