A case of pneumonia due to Mycoplasma hominis in a healthy adult is presented. The bacterium was diagnosed by a quantitative culture method and identification to the species level by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene. The objective of this presentation is to bring to attention the need to search for this opportunistic pathogen. Mycoplasma may be an important cause of bacterial pneumonia without microbiological diagnosis and its incidence may be underestimated.
Reported here is a rare case of atypical pneumonia due to a non- pneumophila Legionella sp. that occurred in a young patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. In spite of aggressive treatment, the patient died 24 h following admission to the intensive care unit. Legionella longbeachae was cultured from respiratory tract specimens and identified to the genus level by PCR and to the species level by an immunofluorescence test. Since most current laboratory tests for Legionella spp., including urinary antigen and serology, cannot detect infections caused by non- pneumophila Legionella spp., culture on legionella-selective media should be strongly considered when diagnosing immunosuppressed patients with pneumonia.
Suspicion of M. hominis pneumonia must be heightened particularly in critically ill patients. Therefore an understanding of the microbiology of this organism is essential to successfully treat patients with these infections that are not ordinarily covered with standard antibiotic therapy.
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