In addition, the increased incidence of severe infections in AIDS patients suggests that cellular immunity may also be important. Patients complain of fever, malaise, headache, chills, night sweats, and anorexia. Lethargy and confusion without focal neurologic findings are common, as is nonproductive cough without objective pulmonary findings. Abdominal pain, often colicky, presents frequently, although diarrhea is observed in only about one third of patients. A gamut of bacteremic syndromes has been reported, ranging from transient asymptomatic bacteremia to acute fulminant sepsis to chronic bacteremia with associated fever lasting weeks to months.
Neonates are at particular risk for meningitis.
An unusual manifestation is thrombophlebitis, which can occur bilaterally, particularly at sites of previous venipunctures. Rarely, metastatic infection may develop at other body sites. C. jejuni is sometimes recovered from blood cultures, but its major clinical importance is as a cause of enteritis. Campylobacter enteritis begins with the abrupt onset of colicky periumbilical pain and fever, followed by profuse, watery, foul-smelling diarrhea. The clinical features of Campylobacter enteritis closely resemble those observed in Salmonella gastroenteritis.