Anaerobic (putrid) lung abscess in adolescence.

Two adolescents with acute anaerobic (putrid) lung abscess were seen during an influenza epidemic. One patient, who had a history of seizures and a dental infection, had a classic predisposition to this disease. In the second patient, the abscess was apparently acquired as a complication of influenza. In both cases, the preliminary diagnosis was staphylococcal pneumonia with pneumatocele. It is suggested that failure to consider an anaerobic cause in pulmonary infections, inappropriate specimens, transport and culture of anaerobic material, and the sensitivity of oral cavity-derived anaerobes to penicillin, serve to mask the true frequency of anaerobic lung infections in childhood and adolescence.