Pediatric nocardiosis.
Characteristics of Nocardia infection, which occurred in ten Oklahoma children between 1975 and 1980, are described. Fatal N asteroides infection occurred in three immunocompromised patients. Pneumonia was the presenting feature in each; one patient had disseminated disease. The first reported case of shunt-associated N asteroides ventriculitis occurred in a 2-month-old girl, who was successfully treated with oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. N brasiliensis was isolated from six immunologically competent children, five of whom had localized, uncomplicated, cutaneous infections. The sixth child developed osteomyelitis following a compound skull fracture. Based on this experience and a review of the literature, N asteroides infections are associated with immunocompromised hosts, and usually are seen as pneumonia with occasional dissemination to other sites. In contrast, N brasiliensis infections are more common than previously thought and usually occur in otherwise normal children as acute posttraumatic pyoderma.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009615:Nocardia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009617:Nocardia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D009616:Nocardia asteroides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009825:Oklahoma; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000209:etiology; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000209:etiology