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A culture from a sputum specimen grew a mucoid, lactose fermenting organism. Biochemical testing on this isolate gave the following key reactions: VP: positive, Urea: 1+, Motility: nonmotile, citrate: positive. Most likely organism?

A) Escherichia coli
B) Klebsiella pneumoniae
C) Pseudomonas aeruginosa
D) Enterobacter cloacae

User Asm
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The most likely organism is Klebsiella pneumoniae, due to the presence of a mucoid, lactose fermenter with positive VP, 1+ urea, nonmotile, and positive citrate tests.

Step-by-step explanation:

The most likely organism described by the given biochemical test results is B) Klebsiella pneumoniae. The organism is mucoid, a characteristic associated with the capsule of Klebsiella species. Additionally, it is a lactose fermenter, as identified by the MacConkey agar test, which would result in pink colonies. This organism is also VP (Voges-Proskauer) positive, urease-positive to a certain extent, nonmotile, and citrate positive. These traits are consistent with Klebsiella pneumoniae, distinguishing it from other choices such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae. Specifically, Escherichia coli is typically motile, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is non-lactose fermenting and has a different colony morphology, and Enterobacter cloacae shows different motility and urease characteristics.

User Danneth
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