Himani Agri, Ravichandran Karthikeyan, Bhimavarapu Kiranmayee, Varsha Jayakumar, Akanksha Yadav, Vinodh Kumar OR, Dharmendra K Sinha and Bhoj R Singh*

Division of Epidemiology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India

*Corresponding Author: Bhoj R Singh, Division of Epidemiology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India.

Received: September 22, 2022; Published: October 25, 2022

Abstract

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is one of the most common emerging nosocomial pathogenic non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli (NFGNBs). The genus Stenotrophomonas comprises 19 validly published species. The bacteria in the genus are environmental commensals, especially in close association with plants. They are auspicious agents for biotechnological applications in agriculture. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is the most predominant species known to cause disease in humans and animals. It was once considered a pathogen of low virulence but now emerged as an important nosocomial opportunistic pathogen causing pneumonia and bacteraemia in immunocompromised individuals. The plasticity to various niches and hosts of this pathogen is primarily attributed to the mutation rate and intrinsic resistance to multiple antibiotics. The advent of various diagnostic methods increased the reporting of these pathogens from different clinical and non-clinical environments in recent years. In the past two decades, this pathogen caused various clinical conditions in animals. Frequent reports of this pathogen in hospital environments, animals, and foods of animal origin, suggest their possible role as important reservoirs for human infections and challenges for the future. Here we discuss the different microbial characteristics, epidemiology, and emerging concerns of this complex group of organisms with special reference to S. maltophilia.

Keywords: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia; Multidrug Resistance; Hospital-acquired Infections; Animals; Environment, Virulence Traits; Secondary Bacterial Infections; Colonization

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Citation

Citation: Himani Agri., et al. “Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: An Overlooked Enemy Disguised as a Friend". Acta Scientific Microbiology 5.11 (2022): 68-80.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Bhoj R Singh., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.