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. 1993 May;31(5):1127–1135. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.5.1127-1135.1993

Isolation of gram-positive rods that resemble but are clearly distinct from Actinomyces pyogenes from mixed wound infections.

J Wüst 1, G M Lucchini 1, J Lüthy-Hottenstein 1, F Brun 1, M Altwegg 1
PMCID: PMC262891  PMID: 8501213

Abstract

Beginning in 1990, gram-positive rods resembling Actinomyces pyogenes were found with increasing frequency in mixed cultures from various infectious processes, most of them from patients with otitis, empyema, pilonidal cysts, perianal abscesses, and decubitus ulcers. Ribotyping and hybridization showed that these gram-positive rods could be divided into five groups not related to known Actinomyces species. Biochemical markers for reliable differentiation into these groups, however, could not be found. Therefore, naming new species is not warranted unless parameters are discovered that allow identification without DNA hybridization. These gram-positive rods have been isolated only in mixed cultures with anaerobes, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus "milleri," enterococci, and gram-negative rods. Their exact role in these possibly synergistic infections needs further investigation.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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