actinomycosis
Sign in to saveActinomycosis is a rare and chronic infectious bacterial disease caused by the gram-positive Actinomyces species. The name refers to ray-like appearance of the organisms in the granules. About 70% of infections are due to either Actinomyces israelii or A. gerencseriae. Infection can also be caused by Streptomyces somaliensis and Propionibacterium propionicus. The condition is likely to be a polymicrobial anaerobic infection.
Key facts
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- A man with actinomycosis on the right side of his face
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- Infectious disease
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
8,648 papers- Actinomycosis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2011
- Actinomycosis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 1998
- Actinomycosis.The Journal of infection · 1989
- Cervicofacial actinomycosis.Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology, and endodontics · 1998
- [Actinomycosis].Medicina clinica · 1999
via PubMed
Article
10 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Causes
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Epidemiology
- History
- Other animals
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Actinomycosis is a rare and chronic infectious bacterial disease caused by the gram-positive Actinomyces species. The name refers to ray-like appearance of the organisms in the granules. About 70% of infections are due to either Actinomyces israelii or A. gerencseriae. Infection can also be caused by Streptomyces somaliensis and Propionibacterium propionicus. The condition is likely to be a polymicrobial anaerobic infection.
== Signs and symptoms == The disease is characterised by the formation of painful abscesses in the mouth, lungs, breast, or gastrointestinal tract. Actinomycosis abscesses grow larger as the disease progresses, often over months. In severe cases, they may penetrate the surrounding bone and muscle to the skin, where they break open and leak large amounts of pus, which often contains characteristic granules filled with progeny bacteria. These granules are often called "sulfur granules" due to their yellow appearance, although they may also be white, gray or brown.