Symptoms:

Symptoms vary and depend on the organs involved.

• Lungs (pulmonary nocardiosis):
  • Chest pain when breathing (may occur suddenly or slowly)
  • Coughing up blood
  • Fevers
  • Night sweats
  • Weight loss
• Brain (cerebral nocardiosis):
  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Seizures
• Skin:
  • May become chronically infected (mycetoma) and develop draining tracts
  • Ulcers or nodules with infection sometimes spreading along lymph nodes

Some people with nocardia infection have no symptoms.

Signs and tests:

Nocardia infection should be suspected in people with lung, brain, or skin symptoms if they also have a condition or conditions that weaken the immune system.

Nocardiosis is diagnosed using tests that identify the bacteria. Depending on the part of the body infected, testing may involve taking a tissue sample by:

• Brain biopsy
• Bronchoscopy
• Lung biopsy
• Skin biopsy
• Sputum culture