[Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]

A male patient of 33 years of age with AIDS developed pneumonia with abscess formation and a slow clinical course. The sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage and blood cultures yielded a Gram-positive, partially acid-alcohol resistant bacillus which was identified as Rhodococcus equi. This organism has been uncommonly implicated in pneumonia in patients with immunodeficiency, particularly with neoplasia and severe cell immunity deficiency. It has been very rarely reported in patients with AIDS. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case in Spain.