Abstract :
Nocardia are weakly gram-positive, filamentous bacteria found worldwide in soils. Infection with Nocardia is rare inimmunocompetent patientsbut may leadto severe disease in immunocompromised patients. Reported cases in paediatric age group are few, and the literature is limited. We present a case of Nocardia isolated from pus from a skin lesion of eleven year old immunocompromised male child. Pus from Skin lesion on Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain showed Acid Fast, Branching filamentous Bacteria. Pus culture on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) media showed glabrous, tough and waxycolonies. It was confirmed to be Nocardia species on Gram stain and modified ZN Stain. No organism was isolated on culture from Blood, urine and Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). High clinical suspicion is required for diagnosis of slow growing bacteria such as Nocardia as they can be easily be missed on routine bacteriological culture.
Keyword :
Nocardia, Tcell Immunodefeciency, Paediatric, Immunocompromised