Abstract
Nocardia species are opportunistic pathogens of immunocompromised patients. We report a case of Nocardia nova infection complicating Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in an HIV-1 infected individual. A 27-year-old man with hemophilia A was admitted on October 17, 2000, with fever and dyspnea. CD4 cell counts were 5/μl on admission. Prophylaxis against PCP was administered by inhalation of pentamidine isethionate because he was allergic to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP). He was diagnosed with PCP from chest X-ray and bronchoalveolar lavage. The sputum obtained for culture on admission was positive for Gram-positive branching rods; the organism was later identified as Nocardia nova. He died from respiratory failure on November 7, 2000. Although PCP might be a principal factor in respiratory failure, this case shows the need to consider pulmonary nocardiosis as a cause of respiratory illness in patients with advanced HIV-1 infection.
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Received: March 22, 2002 / Accepted: June 13, 2002
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Koibuchi, T., Takahashi, T., Nakamura, T. et al. The first isolation of Nocardia nova from an HIV-1 infected individual in Japan. J Infect Chemother 8, 358–360 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10156-002-0189-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10156-002-0189-3