Foundations in Microbiology 9th Edition by Kathleen Park Talaro, Barry Chess

Exercise 6

Critical thinking is the ability to reason and solve problems using facts and concepts. These questions can be approached from a number of angles, and in most cases, they do not have a single correct answer.
Case Study. An elderly man with influenza acquires a case of pneumonia. Gram-positive cocci isolated from his sputum give betahemolysis on blood agar; the infection is very difficult to treat. Later, it is shown that the man shared a room with a patient with a bone infection. Isolates from both infections were the same.
a. What is the probable species?
b. Justify your answer.
c. What treatment will be necessary?
d. What special precautions should be taken by persons attending to the patient? Why?