Eikenella corrodens is commonly associated with which type of injuries?

• A. Animal bites
• B. Dog bites
• C. Clenched-fist wounds
• D. Surgical wounds

Answer: (C)

Eikenella corrodens is part of the normal human oral flora and is classically linked to human bite injuries, especially clenched-fist (fight) wounds to the hand when teeth injure the skin over the knuckles and introduce oral bacteria into deeper tissues. Because these wounds are essentially oral flora inoculations, E. corrodens is a common pathogen in this setting and often appears in mixed infections with other oral organisms. This distinguishes clenched-fist injuries from animal bites—which are more often dominated by organisms like Pasteurella species—and from clean surgical wounds, where skin flora predominate.