Vibrio vulnificus septicemia in a patient with the hemochromatosis HFE C282Y mutation

Vibrio vulnificus is an extremely invasive gram-negative bacillus found in marine waters that causes overwhelming bacteremia and shock that is associated with high mortality. Impaired iron metabolism has been implicated in the susceptibility to V vulnificus bacterial infections. We report a case of fatal V vulnificus sepsis in a 56-year-old man who died within 1 to 3 days after consuming raw seafood. At autopsy, he was found to have micronodular cirrhosis and iron overload. Postmortem genetic analysis revealed the presence of the hemochromatosis gene (HFE) C282Y mutation. To our knowledge, this is this first documented fatal case of V vulnificus infection in a patient proven to carry the HFE C282Y mutation. Because this patient was heterozygous for the major hereditary hemochromatosis mutation and was not previously diagnosed with clinical iron overload, the spectrum of clinical susceptibilities to V vulnificus infection may include carriers of the C282Y mutation.