Correspondence

Correction

Cocci, Not Klebsiella

N Engl J Med 1997; 336:1262April 24, 1997

Article

To the Editor:

The Image in Clinical Medicine in the November 7 issue1 shows the strangest looking Klebsiella pneumoniae I have ever seen, since it appears to be a diploid coccobacillus that has one flat edge, much like a coffee bean. Are you sure that it isn't a neisseria, acinetobacter, or moraxella species?

Paul H. Edelstein, M.D.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283

1 References

1. 1

   Phillips DM. Klebsiella pneumoniae. N Engl J Med 1996;335:1437-1437
   Full Text | Web of Science | Medline

Author/Editor Response

Dr. Phillips replies:

To the Editor: Dr. Edelstein is correct that the organism does not look like klebsiella. The image is a micrograph that I took about 15 years ago, and I no longer have records of where I obtained the specimen. Clearly, however, I must have mixed up samples, or there was contamination by another organism, because the micrograph is of cocci, not klebsiella, which is a rod-shaped organism. I appreciate your calling this mistake to my attention.

David M. Phillips, Ph.D.
Population Council, New York, NY 10021