A 65-year-old male complains of fever, diarrhea, cough and chest pain. Evidence of pneumonia is seen on a chest X-ray. Due to the inability of the patient to produce a suitable sputum specimen, a transtrachial aspirate is obtained. Culture of the aspirate on blood agar is negative for respiratory pathogens. However, growth of the organism on media containing high levels of cysteine and iron shows the presence of weakly staining gram negative rods. The source of the organism responsible for the patient's pneumonia is most likely:
A. Aerosol of drift from a contaminated cooling tower
B. Aspiration of his own normal flora
C. Contaminated food
D. Droplet infection from a close contact
Answer:A
A 65-year-old male complains of fever, diarrhea, cough and chest pain. Evidence of pneumonia is seen on a chest X-ray. Due to the inability of the patient to produce a suitable sputum specimen, a transtrachial aspirate is obtained. Culture of the aspirate on blood agar is negative for respiratory pathogens. However, growth of the organism on media containing high levels of cysteine and iron shows the presence of weakly staining gram negative rods. The source of the organism responsible for the patient's pneumonia is most likely:
A. Aerosol of drift from a contaminated cooling tower B. Aspiration of his own normal flora C. Contaminated food D. Droplet infection from a close contact