klebsiella pneumoniae

terryscarlett
terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
David has this bacteria in his mouth, instead of thrush which we have been told it was for months now. This bacteria is normally found in the digestive tract, not the mouth? Chemo doc didn't understand or have any answers for us other than, brush and clean mouth better, said it is in the same family as ecoli? Has anyone ever heard of this and if so, what is the anawer's. ENT took a culture also, came back with the same bacteria, called in a antibiotic. Chemo doc wants us to let him know next week if the med helps, as he wants the info for future reference? So now we are the guiny pig? Help if you can and thanks in advance for any info. Lol
Terry

Comments

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #2
    G’day Terry
    I have never heard of anyone getting this while on treatment or from treatment, does David work around or know someone who works in a slaughter house or possibility did he eat raw or uncooked meat somehow, just asking a question. Please let us know the outcome incase anyone else gets this.


    Klebsiella is a gram-negative, rod shaped and non-motile bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacteriaceae represents bacteria that normally inhabit the intestines of animals and humans. When they are present outside the gut (alimentary canal between stomach and anus), they cause certain lethal infections in humans. Species of Klebsiella are ubiquitous (present everywhere) and are human-pathogens (disease causing organisms) found in the respiratory, intestinal, and urinogenital tracts. They cause pneumonia (inflammatory illness of the lungs), urinary tract infections (UTI), ankylosing spondylitis (degenerative inflammatory arthritis), septicemia (whole body inflammation) and soft body infections to humans. "Klebsiella" was named after the German pathologist, Edwin Klebs in honor of his work.

    http://www.buzzle.com/articles/klebsiella-pneumoniae.html

    All the best to you both
    Hondo
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #3
    Hondo said:

    G’day Terry
    I have never heard of anyone getting this while on treatment or from treatment, does David work around or know someone who works in a slaughter house or possibility did he eat raw or uncooked meat somehow, just asking a question. Please let us know the outcome incase anyone else gets this.


    Klebsiella is a gram-negative, rod shaped and non-motile bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacteriaceae represents bacteria that normally inhabit the intestines of animals and humans. When they are present outside the gut (alimentary canal between stomach and anus), they cause certain lethal infections in humans. Species of Klebsiella are ubiquitous (present everywhere) and are human-pathogens (disease causing organisms) found in the respiratory, intestinal, and urinogenital tracts. They cause pneumonia (inflammatory illness of the lungs), urinary tract infections (UTI), ankylosing spondylitis (degenerative inflammatory arthritis), septicemia (whole body inflammation) and soft body infections to humans. "Klebsiella" was named after the German pathologist, Edwin Klebs in honor of his work.

    http://www.buzzle.com/articles/klebsiella-pneumoniae.html

    All the best to you both
    Hondo

    Huh. That's a new one on
    Huh. That's a new one on me. I've never heard of it and I have been food safety certified three times and have learned about a lot of bacteria and food Bourne illness.
  • terryscarlett
    terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
    #4
    Hondo said:

    G’day Terry
    I have never heard of anyone getting this while on treatment or from treatment, does David work around or know someone who works in a slaughter house or possibility did he eat raw or uncooked meat somehow, just asking a question. Please let us know the outcome incase anyone else gets this.


    Klebsiella is a gram-negative, rod shaped and non-motile bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacteriaceae represents bacteria that normally inhabit the intestines of animals and humans. When they are present outside the gut (alimentary canal between stomach and anus), they cause certain lethal infections in humans. Species of Klebsiella are ubiquitous (present everywhere) and are human-pathogens (disease causing organisms) found in the respiratory, intestinal, and urinogenital tracts. They cause pneumonia (inflammatory illness of the lungs), urinary tract infections (UTI), ankylosing spondylitis (degenerative inflammatory arthritis), septicemia (whole body inflammation) and soft body infections to humans. "Klebsiella" was named after the German pathologist, Edwin Klebs in honor of his work.

    http://www.buzzle.com/articles/klebsiella-pneumoniae.html

    All the best to you both
    Hondo

    Pork
    No he is still on the feeding tube, doc's have been treating him for thrush for months now and nothing seemed to help with the growth on the tongue, (looks like hairy tongue to me but with to yellow in color). Don't know what to do. They gave him a 800mg antibiotic, I wonder if a GI may be needed to take a look?
  • terryscarlett
    terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
    #5
    sweetblood22 said:

    Huh. That's a new one on
    Huh. That's a new one on me. I've never heard of it and I have been food safety certified three times and have learned about a lot of bacteria and food Bourne illness.

    Food born
    Not sure where this came from? Thought it was the thrush all this time and it has been a bacterial infection that is normally found in the digestive tract. Poor thing still can't swallow well, throat is swollen and mouth is like glue, hard for him to even drink his water...Prayers please...
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #6
    terryscarlett said:

    Pork
    No he is still on the feeding tube, doc's have been treating him for thrush for months now and nothing seemed to help with the growth on the tongue, (looks like hairy tongue to me but with to yellow in color). Don't know what to do. They gave him a 800mg antibiotic, I wonder if a GI may be needed to take a look?

    klebsiella pneumoniae
    Terryscarlett, this is a bacteria often found in the digestive tract, of which the mouth is a part.

    It co-exists peacefully unless it finds a weakened host, as any cancer patient is. Like many pneumonia bacterias, this is community-acquired, meaning that it is transmitted in health-care settings such as hospitals, clinics or nursing homes. Your husband is probably not the only case in your area at this time.

    Probably don't need a gastro specialist but from what I read your doctor should be watching to make sure this does not infiltrate his lungs, a possible occurrence.

    All things being equal, an appropriate antibiotic should work.

    Please bear in mind when considering your doctor's actions regarding what was presumed to be thrush that it is possible thrush could have co-existed with the klebsiella and treatment for thrush was likely appropriate. A physiologic imbalance occurs for either the klebsiella or the thrush to get a foothold in the body.

    Hugs.
  • terryscarlett
    terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
    #7
    Noellesmom said:

    klebsiella pneumoniae
    Terryscarlett, this is a bacteria often found in the digestive tract, of which the mouth is a part.

    It co-exists peacefully unless it finds a weakened host, as any cancer patient is. Like many pneumonia bacterias, this is community-acquired, meaning that it is transmitted in health-care settings such as hospitals, clinics or nursing homes. Your husband is probably not the only case in your area at this time.

    Probably don't need a gastro specialist but from what I read your doctor should be watching to make sure this does not infiltrate his lungs, a possible occurrence.

    All things being equal, an appropriate antibiotic should work.

    Please bear in mind when considering your doctor's actions regarding what was presumed to be thrush that it is possible thrush could have co-existed with the klebsiella and treatment for thrush was likely appropriate. A physiologic imbalance occurs for either the klebsiella or the thrush to get a foothold in the body.

    Hugs.

    Thanks
    for the insight. He is on a strong antibiotic now day 3 of 10. It is looking just a tad bit better, the yellow color is giving way to a white and "pink". I am praying this med will cure him. I do thank everyone for there input, it means so much to us. Happy New Year everybody..
  • terryscarlett
    terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
    #8
    terryscarlett said:

    Thanks
    for the insight. He is on a strong antibiotic now day 3 of 10. It is looking just a tad bit better, the yellow color is giving way to a white and "pink". I am praying this med will cure him. I do thank everyone for there input, it means so much to us. Happy New Year everybody..

    finally
    they have given David some oral antibiotic that he swishes around in his mouth for 5 minutes 4 tiimes a day. It seems to be working, the pink color is coming back, and the taste buds that were growing really long and matted together are looking better. We went to 3 different Doctors and none of them had ever heard of this bacteria growing in the mouth. I made him go back to Ent, to get him to put David in the hospital,(as what I researched shows that it can get into the lungs,and blood and be fatal) The ENT recommended trying this antibiotic before we do the hospital, and he would recommend an infectious disease speacialist if it comes to going into the hospital, we go back to him in the morning (Monday) and will do another culture. The doc did culture of his blood and xrayed his lungs Wednesday and all is normal right now! (thank God) He has been on the liquid antibiotic since friday afternoon with great improvement this morning (Sunday).
    This has been in his mouth for months now, and all the docs thought it was thrush and had been treating him with fungal meds, nothing worked and they finally did a culture and we have gotten to this point. This bacteria is a digestive bacteria and no one has ever heard of it being the mouth. So I wanted to share this info in case anyone else runs into this problem, ask for a culture to be sure what you are dealing with. I am so thankful it is looking better, maybe he can try to eat now. His symptoms were very thick mucos, swollen feeling in the throat, and tongue felt like it had glue on it and looked like hairy tongue without the black color more of a lite yellow color with matted hair. He was unable to eat orally because of the glue like stuff, Thank God he has the feeding tube it has been his lifeline. So please keep him in your prayers that this med is working and he has no recurance of this monster he has been fighting. Hope everyone has a wonderful evening. I will update when we know something more.
    Terry
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #9
    terryscarlett said:

    finally
    they have given David some oral antibiotic that he swishes around in his mouth for 5 minutes 4 tiimes a day. It seems to be working, the pink color is coming back, and the taste buds that were growing really long and matted together are looking better. We went to 3 different Doctors and none of them had ever heard of this bacteria growing in the mouth. I made him go back to Ent, to get him to put David in the hospital,(as what I researched shows that it can get into the lungs,and blood and be fatal) The ENT recommended trying this antibiotic before we do the hospital, and he would recommend an infectious disease speacialist if it comes to going into the hospital, we go back to him in the morning (Monday) and will do another culture. The doc did culture of his blood and xrayed his lungs Wednesday and all is normal right now! (thank God) He has been on the liquid antibiotic since friday afternoon with great improvement this morning (Sunday).
    This has been in his mouth for months now, and all the docs thought it was thrush and had been treating him with fungal meds, nothing worked and they finally did a culture and we have gotten to this point. This bacteria is a digestive bacteria and no one has ever heard of it being the mouth. So I wanted to share this info in case anyone else runs into this problem, ask for a culture to be sure what you are dealing with. I am so thankful it is looking better, maybe he can try to eat now. His symptoms were very thick mucos, swollen feeling in the throat, and tongue felt like it had glue on it and looked like hairy tongue without the black color more of a lite yellow color with matted hair. He was unable to eat orally because of the glue like stuff, Thank God he has the feeding tube it has been his lifeline. So please keep him in your prayers that this med is working and he has no recurance of this monster he has been fighting. Hope everyone has a wonderful evening. I will update when we know something more.
    Terry

    improvement
    So good to hear about the improvement, Terry.

    That is just terrific news!
  • Hal61
    Hal61 Member Posts: 655
    #10
    Noellesmom said:

    improvement
    So good to hear about the improvement, Terry.

    That is just terrific news!

    Diagnosis
    Hi Noellesmom, good call, you get the honorary "House" award for elegant and well-phrased diagnosis. I wish these organs and systems would stay where common sense dictates they ought to be. My BOT cancer was, like most, found in epithelial cells, which should stay on your skin, and not wrap around the inside of your mouth and tongue. Thanks for thinking and contributing.

    Hal
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #11
    Hal61 said:

    Diagnosis
    Hi Noellesmom, good call, you get the honorary "House" award for elegant and well-phrased diagnosis. I wish these organs and systems would stay where common sense dictates they ought to be. My BOT cancer was, like most, found in epithelial cells, which should stay on your skin, and not wrap around the inside of your mouth and tongue. Thanks for thinking and contributing.

    Hal

    Terry I am glad David is
    Terry I am glad David is getting some relief finally. Yes, as much as I hated that PEG tube I also thanked God for it. I have to say tho, that every time I see this post I think it's going to be a recipe for kielbasa.

    I'm a food obsessed dyslexic. :)
  • terryscarlett
    terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
    #12
    sweetblood22 said:

    Terry I am glad David is
    Terry I am glad David is getting some relief finally. Yes, as much as I hated that PEG tube I also thanked God for it. I have to say tho, that every time I see this post I think it's going to be a recipe for kielbasa.

    I'm a food obsessed dyslexic. :)

    LOL
    Hahaha ....sweetblood if I find a good recipe I will send it you'r way..
    Thanks to everyone here for the info and prayers. Always appreciated
  • terryscarlett
    terryscarlett Member Posts: 143
    #13
    Noellesmom said:

    klebsiella pneumoniae
    Terryscarlett, this is a bacteria often found in the digestive tract, of which the mouth is a part.

    It co-exists peacefully unless it finds a weakened host, as any cancer patient is. Like many pneumonia bacterias, this is community-acquired, meaning that it is transmitted in health-care settings such as hospitals, clinics or nursing homes. Your husband is probably not the only case in your area at this time.

    Probably don't need a gastro specialist but from what I read your doctor should be watching to make sure this does not infiltrate his lungs, a possible occurrence.

    All things being equal, an appropriate antibiotic should work.

    Please bear in mind when considering your doctor's actions regarding what was presumed to be thrush that it is possible thrush could have co-existed with the klebsiella and treatment for thrush was likely appropriate. A physiologic imbalance occurs for either the klebsiella or the thrush to get a foothold in the body.

    Hugs.

    Can I have it to
    Just wonder if I may be infected also? How did you learn so much about it. I researched online. Not sure if I need to be tested for it? Thanks for your help!
    Terry
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #14
    terryscarlett said:

    LOL
    Hahaha ....sweetblood if I find a good recipe I will send it you'r way..
    Thanks to everyone here for the info and prayers. Always appreciated

    Good recipe.
    Thanks anyway sweetie but I wouldn't be able to swallow it anyway. I have tried a couple times and cannot. Maybe that's why I want it so badly. Lol. :) I'll just go back to developing my aduki bean stew recipe now... But what I'm really craving is polish sausage. ;-)
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #15
    terryscarlett said:

    Can I have it to
    Just wonder if I may be infected also? How did you learn so much about it. I researched online. Not sure if I need to be tested for it? Thanks for your help!
    Terry

    is this one for me, terry?
    I think it would be a good idea to mention to mention it to the doctor your see for the kidney infection you might have. Could be you just have cystitis, too.

    Hope you feel better soon :)
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #16
    Hal61 said:

    Diagnosis
    Hi Noellesmom, good call, you get the honorary "House" award for elegant and well-phrased diagnosis. I wish these organs and systems would stay where common sense dictates they ought to be. My BOT cancer was, like most, found in epithelial cells, which should stay on your skin, and not wrap around the inside of your mouth and tongue. Thanks for thinking and contributing.

    Hal

    thanks, Hal
    I know just enough to be dangerous...for the doctors, that is :)

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