A 64-year-old man, who is a chronic alcoholic, presents with fever, chills and increasing shoness of breath. The patient appears in acute respiratory distress and complains of pleuritic chest pain. Physical examination shows crackles and decreased breath sounds over both lung fields. The patient exhibits tachypnea, with flaring of the nares. The sputum is thick, mucoidy and blood-tinged. Which of the following pathogens is the most common cause of this patient's pulmonary infection?
Klebsiella pneumoniae is the most frequent cause of gram-negative bacterial pneumonia. It commonly afflicts debilitated and malnourished people, paicularly chronic alcoholics. Thick, mucoid (often blood-tinged) sputum is characteristic because the organism produces an abundant viscid capsular polysac-charide, which the patient may have difficulty expectorating.
Legionella pneumophila
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Infectious Lung Disease: Pneumonia