CASE E

This specimen is from one bottle of two blood cultures from a 34-year-old male with AIDS noncompliant with HAART. Gram stains of the other bottles of these sets showed the same organisms. He expired 8 hours after the blood culture was collected.

Most specimens submitted for bacterial culture, such as the knee aspirate in Case A, are set to the lab in sterile containers or on swabs and inoculated directly onto various media (agar plates) and a Gram stain slide. Blood cultures are performed differently. Blood is drawn typically via venipuncture and placed directly into special bottles that contain different broths to enhance recovery of aerobic bacteria and yeast and anaerobic bacteria, respectively. These bottles are incubated in an instrument that monitors the bottles for growth and signals laboratorians when growth is detected. The bottle is removed from the instrument, blood/broth mixture is removed with a syringe and needle and inoculated onto various media (agar plates) and a Gram stain slide. .

Look at the slide (This will open a new browser window that you can refer to while answering the questions below. Close when finished.)

How many types of organisms are present in this smear?

1
2
3
4
5

 

Describe the morphology of the organism(s) seen in the smear.

Gram negative bacilli, Gram positive cocci in clusters, and yeast
Gram positive bacilli, Gram positive cocci in clusters, and yeast
Gram negative bacilli, Gram positive bacilli, and Gram positive cocci in clusters
Gram negative bacilli, Gram positive bacilli, and yeast
Gram negative bacilli, Gram positive bacilli with branching, and yeast
Gram positive bacilli, Gram positive bacilli with branching, and Gram positive cocci in clusters

Name the genus of the yeast seen on this Gram stain. Refer to the "Gram Stain Results" link on the left for assistance.

Bacillus
Candida
Cryptococcus
Staphylococcus
Streotococcus