ABSTRACT
Nocardia infections have long been considered to be rare, especially since the diagnosis of nocardiosis, whether direct, indirect, or immunologic, has long been out of the reach of a large number of laboratories. In recent years, the situation has dramatically changed. The number of patients suffering from nocardiosis worldwide is constantly increasing. Although a majority of patients have risk factors (generally an immunosuppressive situation), it must be noted that 30% of cases were observed in subjects who were apparently immunocompetent. Due to the nature and seriousness of the infection, the accurate and rapid detection and identiŠcation of such bacteria, as well as an assessment of their sensitivity levels to antibiotics, are essential. Diagnostic methods to replace conventional ones were proposed to microbiology laboratories in order to help them more quickly detect and identify Nocardia species whose number has tripled within the past few years
and which display different epidemiological and pathogenic characteristics.
