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Very few structures are acid-fast; this makes staining for acid-fastness particularly useful in diagnosis. The following are notable examples of structures which are acid-fast or modified acid-fast: All Mycobacteria – M. tuberculosis, M. leprae, M. smegmatis and atypical mycobacteria.
The genus is acid-fast to some degree, it stains only weakly Gram positive. The most common form of human nocardial disease is a slowly progressive pneumonia, the common symptoms of which include cough, dyspnea (shortness of breath), and fever. It is not uncommon for this infection to spread to the pleura or chest wall.
A diagnosis of TB should, however, be considered in those with signs of lung disease or constitutional symptoms lasting longer than two weeks. [100] A chest X-ray and multiple sputum cultures for acid-fast bacilli are typically part of the initial evaluation. [100]
After the Ziehl-Neelsen staining procedure using carbol fuchsin, acid-fast bacteria are observable as vivid red or pink rods set against a blue or green background, depending on the specific counterstain used, such as methylene blue or malachite green, respectively. Non-acid-fast bacteria and other cellular structures will be colored by the ...
Gram-positive, nonmotile and acid-fast rods (1-3 μm x 0.2-0.4 μm). Sometimes long rods with occasional beaded or swollen cells having non-acid-fast ovoid bodies at one end. Colony characteristics. Smooth hemispheric colonies, usually off-white or cream colored. May be butyrous, waxy, multilobate and even rosette clustered (dilute inocula).
The diagnosis is confirmed by finding acid-fast bacilli in a biopsy of the skin. [3] Leprosy is curable with multidrug therapy. [4] Treatment of paucibacillary leprosy is with the medications dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine for six months. [9] Treatment for multibacillary leprosy uses the same medications for 12 months. [9]
Mycobacterium leprae is an intracellular, pleomorphic, non-sporing, non-motile, acid-fast, pathogenic bacterium. [3] It is an aerobic bacillus (rod-shaped bacterium) with parallel sides and round ends, surrounded by the characteristic waxy coating of mycolic acid unique to mycobacteria.
Mycobacterium is a genus of over 190 species in the phylum Actinomycetota, assigned its own family, Mycobacteriaceae.This genus includes pathogens known to cause serious diseases in mammals, including tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) and leprosy in humans.