Actnomycosis infection

Morphological, cultural characteristics and their normal habitat. Access to humans

Susceptible hosts

It is not an opportunistic infection. It is due to aspiration of organisms from oral cavity. Patients with a predisposition to aspiration e.g. seizure disorder, mental retardation, episodes of unconsciousness, alcoholism etc are more prone to develop infection. This statement refers to pulmonary infection.

Method of invasion and spread in humans Human defense Pathology

Necrotizing inflammation with abscess formation.

Diagnosis Therapeutic strategy  Prevention  Clinical infections with these organisms

Oral cervical disease, thoracic disease, mass lesions, pneumonia with or without pleural involvement, abdominal disease-abscess or mass secondary to disruption of the bowel mucosa, pelvic disease, CNS disease - rare, bone and soft tissue.

Differentiate from  Nocardia

Nocardia which is a branching filamentous, gram-positive bacterium which is also weakly acid-fact. Inflammation is also neutrophilic