Acknowledgements This chapter includes information included by Drs. Gary S. Marshall and Bryan D. Carter in previous editions of the book. It also relies heavily on the collaborative efforts of members of the international writing group for the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic…
Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children in the developed world. The epidemiology and clinical features of the illness point to an infectious etiology, but the cause remains unknown. KD is a unique…
Microbiology Members of the family Mycoplasmataceae are small pleomorphic bacteria that characteristically lack a cell wall. Shapes range from filamentous to spherical, with diameters up to 0.8 μm. The genus Ureaplasma is biochemically unique in that all members possess urease…
Many Mollicutes colonize the mucosal surfaces of humans ( Table 197.1 ). Of these, only Mycoplasma genitalium , M. hominis , M. pneumoniae (see Chapter 196 ) , and Ureaplasma urealyticum (see Chapter 198 ) are known to be pathogenic…
Description of the Pathogen Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a member of the class Mollicutes, which includes bacterial pathogens and commensals found in many animals and plants. These pathogens comprise the smallest self-replicating prokaryotes known to cause infection in humans. M. pneumoniae…
Anaerobic gram-positive, nonsporulating bacilli of clinical significance include Actinomyces , Bifidobacterium , Eubacterium , Lactobacillus , Mobiluncus , and Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium ) . A taxonomic revision has placed all Propionibacterium species of the skin microbiota within a new genus:…
The anaerobic cocci are major components of the normal microbiota of the mouth, upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, vagina, and skin. Gram-positive cocci and gram-negative cocci ( Veillonella spp.) are the anaerobic bacteria most commonly isolated from clinical specimens. Traditional…
Fusobacteria are non–spore-forming, nonmotile, pleomorphic, gram-negative ( Fig. 193.1 ), obligate anaerobic bacilli that can cause a wide spectrum of human disease ranging from mild pharyngitis to sepsis, and these organisms are most notorious for causing septic thrombophlebitis of the…
Clinically important anaerobic gram-negative bacilli (AGNB) include B. fragilis group (including Bacteroides and Parabacteroides ), Prevotella , Porphyromonas , and Fusobacterium . Fusobacterium are discussed in Chapter 193 . Infections due to Porphyromonas and Prevotella (previously named Bacteroides species) are…
Clostridia are gram-positive, spore-forming bacilli that cause up to 10% of anaerobic infections and occur at diverse clinical sites. Of the more than 200 recognized species of Clostridium , <20 are associated with invasive and toxigenic human diseases. , Clostridial…