Infectious Diseases

	Answer 3 Actinomyces species. Actinomyces species can cause a subacute to chronic suppurative granulomatous infection in the lungs, usually after aspiration of oropharyngeal secretions. Actinomyces are filamentous, gram-positive, non–acid-fast anaerobic to microaerophilic bacteria. They typically resemble Nocardia species on Gram stain, but Nocardia is aerobic and will yield positive results on partially acid-fast staining.4 K. pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Clostridium species do not match the description of the organism found on Gram stain. REFERENCE 4. Hsieh MJ, Liu HP, Chang JP, Chang CH. Thoracic actinomycosis. Chest 1993;104:366–70. Click here to return to the questions
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