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 may be caused by many different bacteria, fungi, or protozoans, which are kinds of disease-causing microbes. Abscesses result from infections that are or become localized or confined to one part of the body, as opposed to infections that spread throughout the body.