Bacteroides fragilis: a case study of bacteremia and septic arthritis.

A 67-year-old African-American male presented with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and knee pain. Four sets of blood cultures were collected and resulted in the growth of Bacteroides fragilis in all anaerobic bottles. Later, a fluid and tissue sample from the patient's knee grew the same species of bacteria. The patient was placed on intravenous antibiotics to fight the infection.