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Review
. 2016 Aug 10;8(8):e731.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.731.

Emerging Bacterial Infection: Identification and Clinical Significance of Kocuria Species

Venkataramana Kandi  1 , Padmavali Palange  1 , Ritu Vaish  1 , Adnan Bashir Bhatti  2 , Vinod Kale  1 , Maheshwar Reddy Kandi  3 , Mohan Rao Bhoomagiri  1
Affiliations
Review

Emerging Bacterial Infection: Identification and Clinical Significance of Kocuria Species

Venkataramana Kandi et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Recently there have been reports of gram-positive cocci which are morphologically similar to both Staphylococci and the Micrococci. These bacteria have been identified as Kocuria species with the help of automated identification system and other molecular methods including 16S rRNA (ribosomal ribonucleic acid) evaluation. Kocuria belongs to the family Micrococcaceae which also includes Staphylococcus species and Micrococcus species. Isolation and clinical significance of these bacteria from human specimens warrant great caution as it does not necessarily confirm infection due to their ubiquitous presence, and as a normal flora of skin and mucous membranes in human and animals. Most clinical microbiology laboratories ignore such bacteria as laboratory and specimen contaminants. With increasing reports of infections associated with these bacteria, it is now important for clinical microbiologists to identify and enumerate the virulence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of such bacteria and assist clinicians in improving the patient care and management. We review the occurrence and clinical significance of Kocuria species.

Keywords: kocuria spp; micrococcaceae; staphylococcus; urinary tract infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Appearance of Kocuria spp on blood agar after 24 hours of aerobic incubation
Figure 2
Figure 2. Gram's stain of Kocuria spp showing large sized cocci arranged in pairs, short chains, tetrads, clusters and deeply stained very large cocci
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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