• Coryneform bacteria constitute a large, poorly classified family of gram-positive staining bacilli or coccobacilli only superficially resembling C. diphtheriae.

• C. jeikeium is an example of a coryneform bacteria that causes infections in immunocompromised patients and especially severe infections in neutropenic patients with hematologic cancers.

• The antibiotic drug of choice for C. jeikeium is vancomycin (Vancocin)

• Strains of C. jeikeium are susceptible or only mildly resistant to ß-lactam antibiotics.

• For strains moderately resistant to ß-lactams, a ß-lactam in combination with an aminoglycoside may be effective.

Holmes, R.K., Diphtheria, Other Corynebacterial Infections and Anthrax,In Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 14th edition, (Isselbacher, K.J., Braunwald, E., Wilson, J.D., Martin, J.B., Fauci, A.S. and Kasper, D.L., eds) McGraw-Hill, Inc (Health Professions Division), 1998, p. 895-897.