Of the cases presented in literature, 33% occurred in asplenic individuals, who have decreased IgM and IgG production. They also have delayed macrophage assembly and produce less tuftsin. Tuftsin is responsible for the stimulation of phagocytosis, so its decrease in the presence of bacterial infection poses a problem. A functional spleen is important for the removal of pathogens. Because this particular pathogen seems to flourish in asplenic patients, both IgM antibodies and tuftsin may be critical in the process of marking this bacterium for destruction by phagocytosis. Asplenics often have double the amount of healthy iron in their bloodstreams, and are 60 times more at risk of developing fatal clinical manifestations of the bacterium. Individuals with asplenia often experience symptom onset within a day of exposure. The infection rapidly progresses toward multiple organ system failures and finally death. The mortality rate in individuals with asplenia is much higher than any other at risk-category for C. canimorsus infections.
