Patients with retroviral disease are at significant risk of acquiring opportunistic infections. Pulmonary tuberculosis is an important diagnostic consideration in patients with retroviral disease presenting with unresolving respiratory infec-tion. However, other acid-fast bacteria might need to be considered, especially in the case of recurrent necrotizing pneumonia in these patients. We describe a case of a 28-year-old man who was newly diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus infection, presenting with clinical and radiological evidence of persistent necrotizing pneumonia, and sputum Mycobacterium Growth Incubator Tube (MGIT) culture resembling Mycobacterium morphologically, which was finally identified as Rhodococcus equi. His course of illness was remitting and relapsing requiring multiple choice of antibiotics, antituberculous agents and anti retroviral drugs. He finally recovered after a prolonged illness. Rhodococcus equi infection is under reported and can be confused with other Mycobacterium infections.
Cite this paper
Ng, K. H. , Lee, T. C. and Pillai, N. (2019). A Rare Case of Rhodococcus equi Infection in a Newly Diagnosed Patient with Retroviral Disease Presenting with Necrotizing Pneumonia. Open Access Library Journal, 6, e5196. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1105196.
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