Orbital cellulitis is an infection of the soft tissues lying behind the orbital septum. The etiologic agents differ across age group, but gram-positive cocci colonizing the skin and the nasopharynx, such as Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species, are most commonly identified in children. Haemophilus influenzae, a gram-negative facultative anaerobe, was frequently identified before the introduction of the Haemophilus vaccine in 1985. We report the case of a 15-year-old man who presented with a severe orbital cellulitis complicated by a subperiosteal abscess (SPA) secondary to Capnocytophaga sputigena.
Orbital cellulitis is an infection of the soft tissues lying behind the orbital septum. The etiologic agents differ across age group, but gram-positive cocci colonizing the skin and the nasopharynx, such as Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species, are most commonly identified in children. Haemophilus influenzae, a gram-negative facultative anaerobe, was frequently identified before the introduction of the Haemophilus vaccine in 1985. We report the case of a 15-year-old man who presented with a severe orbital cellulitis complicated by a subperiosteal abscess (SPA) secondary to Capnocytophaga sputigena.