At an isolated weather station in the central United States, a technician emerges from a small brick shed grasping a balloon. It's not just any birthday party balloon, mind you, but a massive, white sphere more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter.
Lung abscess can also be caused by the spread of other infections from the liver, abdominal cavity, or open chest wounds. Rarely, AIDS patients can develop lung abscess from Pneumocystis carinii and other organisms that take advantage of a weakened immune system. Lung abscess is usually slow to develop.
Abscesses are caused by obstruction of oil-producing (sebaceous) glands or sweat glands, inflammation of hair follicles, or from minor breaks and punctures of the skin. Germs (bacteria) get under the skin or into these glands, which causes an inflammatory response as your body's defences try to kill the bacteria.