Nocardiosis is a rare infectious disorder, that affects the brain, skin, and/or lungs. 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.. This condition usually starts in the lungs and can spread to other body organs. Affected individuals usually experience problems with their lungs (chest pain, coughing up blood, fevers), brain (headaches and seizures), and skin (skin infections, ulcers, and abscesses). Nocardiosis is caused by a bacteria of the family (genus) known as Nocardia which have different species (types). Nocardia bacteria are able to cause localized or systemic disease in humans and animals. The nocardia bacteria are found in soil around the world. People contract this disease by either inhaling contaminated dust or if soil containing nocardia bacteria get into an open wound.
Summary
Nocardiosis is a rare infectious disorder, that affects the brain, skin, and/or lungs. 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.. This condition usually starts in the lungs and can spread to other body organs. Affected individuals usually experience problems with their lungs (chest pain, coughing up blood, fevers), brain (headaches and seizures), and skin (skin infections, ulcers, and abscesses). Nocardiosis is caused by a bacteria of the family (genus) known as Nocardia which have different species (types). Nocardia bacteria are able to cause localized or systemic disease in humans and animals. The nocardia bacteria are found in soil around the world. People contract this disease by either inhaling contaminated dust or if soil containing nocardia bacteria get into an open wound.Nocardiosis is a rare infectious disorder, that affects the brain, skin, and/or lungs. 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.. This condition usually starts in the lungs and can spread to other body organs. Affected individuals usually experience problems with their lungs (chest pain, coughing up blood, fevers), brain (headaches and seizures), and skin (skin infections, ulcers, and abscesses). Nocardiosis is caused by a bacteria of the family (genus) known as Nocardia which have different species (types). Nocardia bacteria are able to cause localized or systemic disease in humans and animals. The nocardia bacteria are found in soil around the world. People contract this disease by either inhaling contaminated dust or if soil containing nocardia bacteria get into an open wound.
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Resource(s) for Medical Professionals and Scientists on This Disease:
Orphanetprovides GARD with information for this disease.
About Nocardiosis
Many rare diseases have limited information. Currently, GARD aims to provide the following information for this disease:
Population Estimate:This section is currently indevelopment.
Symptoms:May start to appear at any time in life.
Cause:This disease is caused by harmful bacteria.
Organizations:GARD is not currently aware of organizations specific to this disease.
Categories:Infectious Diseases
When Do Symptoms of Nocardiosis Begin?
Symptoms of this disease may start to appear at any time in life.
The age symptoms may begin to appear differs between diseases. Symptoms may begin in a single age range, or during several age ranges. The symptoms of some diseases may begin at any age. Knowing when symptoms may have appeared can help medical providers find the correct diagnosis.
Prenatal Selected
Before Birth
Newborn Selected
Birth-4 weeks
Infant Selected
1-23 months
Child Selected
2-11 years
Adolescent Selected
12-18 years
Adult Selected
19-65 years
Older Adult Selected
65+ years
Symptoms may start to appear at any time in life.
Symptoms
The types of symptoms experienced, and their intensity, may vary among people with this disease. Your experience may be different from others. Consult your health care team for more information.
The following describes the symptom(s) associated with this disease along with the corresponding body system(s), description, synonyms, and frequency (Note: Not all possible symptoms may be listed):
Respiratory System Respiratory System
49 Symptoms
49 Symptoms
49 Symptoms
Respiratory System
The respiratory system is made up of the lungs and the nose, mouth, throat, voice box, windpipe, diaphragm, and muscles of the chest wall. This system controls breathing, providing the body with oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide. Common symptoms of problems in the respiratory system include chronic cough, shortness of breath, chronic chest pain, coughing up blood, and chronic mucus production. Diseases of the respiratory system may be diagnosed and treated by a pulmonologist.
Medical Term
Abnormal sputum
Frequency
Uncommon
Frequent
Frequent
Always
Description
Abnormal appearance of material expectorated (coughed up) from the respiratory system and that is composed of mucus but may contain other substances such as pus, blood, microorganisms, and fibrin.
This disease is caused by harmful bacteria that enter the body. Bacteria are single-celled organisms that release toxins as they multiply. Bacterial infections can be contagious. You may get a bacterial infection when you come into close contact with contaminated surfaces, eat or drink contaminated food or water, or are exposed to other people who can spread the bacteria. Often, bacterial infections enter your body through your mouth, nose, eyes, or a cut in your skin. Learn more about bacterial infectious diseases through the National Library of Medicine.
Find Your Community
How Can Patient Organizations Help?
Patient organizations can help patients and families connect. They build public awareness of the disease and are a driving force behind research to improve patients' lives. They may offer online and in-person resources to help people live well with their disease. Many collaborate with medical experts and researchers.
Services of patient organizations differ, but may include:
Ways to connect to others and share personal stories
Easy-to-read information
Up-to-date treatment and research information
Patient registries
Lists of specialists or specialty centers
Financial aid and travel resources
Please note: GARD provides organizations for informational purposes only and not as an endorsement of their services. Please contact an organization directly if you have questions about the information or resources it provides.
Clinical studies are part of clinical research and play an important role in medical advances, including for rare diseases. Through clinical studies, researchers may ultimately uncover better ways to treat, prevent, diagnose, and understand human diseases.
What Are Clinical Studies?
Clinical studies are medical research involving people as participants. There are two main types of clinical studies:
Clinical trials determine if a new test or treatment for a disease is effective and safe by comparing groups receiving different tests/treatments.
Observational studies involve recording changes over time among a specific group of people in their natural settings.
People participate in clinical trials for many reasons. People with a disease may participate to receive the newest possible treatment and additional care from clinical study staff as well as to help others living with the same or similar disease. Healthy volunteers may participate to help others and to contribute to moving science forward.
To find the right clinical study we recommend you consult your doctors, other trusted medical professionals, and patient organizations. Additionally, you can use ClinicalTrials.gov to search for clinical studies by disease, terms, or location.
What if There Are No Available Clinical Studies?
ResearchMatch helps connect people interested in research studies with researchers from top medical centers across the United States. Anyone from the U.S. can register with this free program funded by NIH. Researchers from participating institutions use the database to search for and invite patients or healthy volunteers who meet their study criteria to participate.
Join the All of Us Research Program!
The All of Us Research Program is inviting 1 million people from all backgrounds across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in history. Researchers will use the data to learn how our biology, lifestyle, and environment affect health. This may one day help them find ways to treat and prevent diseases.
What Are Clinical Studies?
Clinical studies are medical research involving people as participants. There are two main types of clinical studies:
Clinical trials determine if a new test or treatment for a disease is effective and safe by comparing groups receiving different tests/treatments.
Observational studies involve recording changes over time among a specific group of people in their natural settings.
People participate in clinical trials for many reasons. People with a disease may participate to receive the newest possible treatment and additional care from clinical study staff as well as to help others living with the same or similar disease. Healthy volunteers may participate to help others and to contribute to moving science forward.
To find the right clinical study we recommend you consult your doctors, other trusted medical professionals, and patient organizations. Additionally, you can use ClinicalTrials.gov to search for clinical studies by disease, terms, or location.People participate in clinical trials for many reasons. People with a disease may participate to receive the newest possible treatment and additional care from clinical study staff as well as to help others living with the same or similar disease. Healthy volunteers may participate to help others and to contribute to moving science forward.
To find the right clinical study we recommend you consult your doctors, other trusted medical professionals, and patient organizations. Additionally, you can use ClinicalTrials.gov to search for clinical studies by disease, terms, or location.
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What if There Are No Available Clinical Studies?
ResearchMatch helps connect people interested in research studies with researchers from top medical centers across the United States. Anyone from the U.S. can register with this free program funded by NIH. Researchers from participating institutions use the database to search for and invite patients or healthy volunteers who meet their study criteria to participate.
Join the All of Us Research Program!
The All of Us Research Program is inviting 1 million people from all backgrounds across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in history. Researchers will use the data to learn how our biology, lifestyle, and environment affect health. This may one day help them find ways to treat and prevent diseases.
ClinicalTrials.gov, an affiliate of NIH, provides current information on clinical research studies in the United States and abroad. Talk to a trusted doctor before choosing to participate in any clinical study. We recommend checking this site often and searching for studies with related terms/synonyms to improve results.
Contact a GARD Information Specialist if you need help finding more information on this rare disease or available clinical studies. Please note that GARD cannot enroll individuals in clinical studies.
Use the contact form to send your questions to a GARD Information Specialist.
Please allow 2 to 10 business days for us to respond.
ClinicalTrials.gov, an affiliate of NIH, provides current information on clinical research studies in the United States and abroad. Talk to a trusted doctor before choosing to participate in any clinical study. We recommend checking this site often and searching for studies with related terms/synonyms to improve results.
Contact a GARD Information Specialist if you need help finding more information on this rare disease or available clinical studies. Please note that GARD cannot enroll individuals in clinical studies.
Take steps toward getting a diagnosis by working with your doctor, finding the right specialists, and coordinating medical care.
GARD collects data from a variety of sources to populate its website and provide accurate and reliable information on rare diseases.
GARD uses data collected from Orphanet and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) to interpret and provide information on rare diseases. This includes names, synonyms, genes, symptom frequency, population estimates and more.
Orphanet is an online database of rare diseases and orphan drugs that provides aggregated data coordinated by INSERM-US14 in Paris.
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