Streptomyces pneumonia in an immunocompetent adult - a rare isolate

Streptomyces belongs to the Actinomycetes group of bacteria which are gram-positive non acid-fast bacilli, widely recognised for their potential to produce antimicrobials active against bacterial, mycobacterial, parasitic and fungal infections. They commonly cause cutaneous infections following traumatic inoculation. Visceral infections are relatively rare and limited to immunocompro-mised hosts. We describe a case of Streptomyces pneumonia in a healthy immunocompetent female, who when investigated for voluntary kidney donation, resulted in the isolation of Streptomyces species from bronchial wash cultures. Streptomyces, a potential pathogen in immunocompetent hosts is frequently underdiagnosed. Once isolated, both physicians and microbiologists should pay attention to differentiate true infection from contamination.