Enterobacter cloacae

Enterobacter cloacae is a Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium.

Enterobacter cloacae increasingly causes nosocomial infections, among intensive care patients. The following diseases, among others, can be caused by this pathogen:

  • Respiratory infections

  • Urinary tract infections

  • Wound infections

  • Cholangitis (inflammation of the bile ducts)

  • Endocarditis (inflammation of the heart´s inner lining)

  • Sepsis

Enterobacter cloacae poses a risk to people with a weak immune system. The pathogen has been detected not only in stool or fecal samples from humans and animals, but also in plants, in water, in insects, and in food.

Relevance of pathogen in transmission in endoscopy

  • Gastroenterology: Low

  • Pulmonology: High

  • Ear, nose, and throat: Not relevant

  • Urology: High

Relevance for endoscope surveillance

  • High concern organism

Transmission route

Transmission takes place via endogenous infections, contact infections, and contaminated food.

Resistance to antibiotics

Enterobacter cloacae shows resistance to numerous antibiotics such as 1st generation aminopenicillins and cephalosporins, aminoglycosides and carbapenems.

Sources and further readings

  1. Bennett JE et al. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, Elsevier Inc. 2015.

  2. Chang CL et al. Outbreak of ertapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae urinary tract infections due to a contaminated ureteroscope. J Hosp Infect 2013; 85: 118–124.

  3. Gries O, Ly T: Infektologie – Kompendium humanpathogener Infektionskrankheiten und Erreger, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2019.

  4. Hygienemaßnahmen bei Infektionen oder Besiedlung mit multiresistenten gramnegativen Stäbchen, Empfehlung der Kommission für Krankenhaushygiene und Infektionsprävention (KRINKO) beim Robert Koch-Institut (RKI), Bundesgesundheitsbl 2012 · 55:1311–1354.