Presentation
All of these organisms are part of the normal oropharyngeal flora, which grow slowly, prefer a carbon dioxide–enriched atmosphere, and share an enhanced capacity to produce endocardial infections, especially in young children. Collectivelly they account for 5-10% of cases of infective endocarditis involving native valves and are the most common gram-negative cause of endocarditis among people who do not use IV drugs. They have been a frequent cause of culture-negative endocarditis. Culture negative refers to an inability to produce a colony on regular agar plates; this is because these bacteria are fastidious (requiring a specific nutrient).
In addition to valvular infections in the heart, they can also produce other infections such as bacteremia, abscess, peritonitis, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, arthritis, osteomyelitis, and periodontal infections.
Read more about this topic: HACEK Endocarditis
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