Streptococcus infection in a newborn.

Streptococcus salivarius is an uncommon cause of infection in neonates. Normally present in the oral flora of humans, S salivarius is the least pathogenic member of the viridans group streptococci and is often considered a contaminant when detected on blood culture. While rare, it has been shown in the literature to cause clinically relevant bacteremia and other invasive infections typically in the immunocompromised. We report the case of a well-appearing 1-day-old female with sequential positive blood cultures for S salivarius. This case has important implications as it demonstrates that S salivarius should not be automatically ruled out as a contaminant when isolated on blood culture.