Nocardiosis is a disease caused by bacteria found in soil. It can affect the lungs, brain, and skin. While the disease can be treated with commonly available antibiotics, it can be fatal in 4 out of 10 cases.

Understanding the Context

In the United States, about 500-1,000 new cases of nocardiosis occur every year. Nocardiosis is a rare bacterial infection from soil/water affecting lungs, brain, or skin. Learn more about its symptoms, causes, risks, diagnosis & treatment options. Nocardiosis is a rare infectious disorder, that affects the brain, skin, and/or lungs.

Key Insights

It occurs mainly in people with a weakened immune system but can affect anyone, and about one-third of infected people do not have any immune problems.. Nocardiosis is a bacterial infection you can get in your lungs, skin and brain. Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, skin ulcers and more. Nocardiosis | About the Disease | GARD - Genetic and Rare Diseases ... Nocardiosis is an infectious disease affecting either the lungs (pulmonary nocardiosis) or the whole body (systemic nocardiosis).

Final Thoughts

It is due to infection by a bacterium of the genus Nocardia, most commonly Nocardia asteroides or Nocardia brasiliensis. The treatment of nocardiosis will be reviewed here. The microbiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of nocardiosis are discussed separately. Nocardiosis is an acute or chronic, often disseminated, suppurative or granulomatous infection caused by various aerobic soil saprophytes of the gram-positive bacilli genus Nocardia.