Bacterium Alcaligines (Alcaligines faecalis)Infections in Man

Abstract

BACTERIUM alcaligines (alcaligines faecalis) is usually a harmless saprophyte in the human intestinal tract. On occasion, however, it may invade the tissues of man and produce a wide variety of clinical syndromes; this paper is concerned with an infection of this type that occurred in a patient who had infectious mononucleosis, and with a review of the literature on this subject. Bact. alcaligines is a gram-negative rod that shows considerable variation in cell size but is usually longer and thinner than Escherichia coli. It is motile and fails to ferment any of the common carbohydrates. Litmus milk . . .