Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
These bacteria cause Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infections or Mycobacterium avium complex infections in humans. [2] These bacteria are common and are found in fresh and salt water, in household dust and in soil. [3] MAC bacteria usually cause infection in those who are immunocompromised or those with severe lung disease.
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.
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 ...
In some cases, the presence of acid-fast leprosy bacilli in skin smears is considered diagnostic; however, the diagnosis is typically made without laboratory tests, based on symptoms. [4] If a person has a new leprosy diagnosis and already has a visible disability caused by leprosy, the diagnosis is considered late. [31]
Other bacteria are commonly identified with a microscope by staining them with Gram stain. However, the mycolic acid in the cell wall of M. tuberculosis does not absorb the stain. Instead, acid-fast stains such as Ziehl–Neelsen stain, or fluorescent stains such as auramine are used. [4]
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 phlei is a species of acid-fast bacteria in the genus Mycobacterium. [1] It is characterized as one of the fast-growing mycobacteria. M. phlei has only occasionally been isolated in human infections, and patients infected with M. phlei generally respond well to anti-mycobacterial therapy. M. phlei has an unusually high GC-content ...