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Previous Volume 358:2845-2847 June 26, 2008 Number 26 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: In their review article, Munoz-Price and Weinstein (March 20 issue)¹ state that "Acinetobacter is a gram-negative coccobacillus" and that it is "nonreactive in many biochemical tests commonly used to differentiate among gram-negative bacilli." However, acinetobacter can be gram-variable and even gram-positive on initial Gram's staining.^2,3 The appearance of the bacteria is highly dependent on its life-cycle phase: it is rod-shaped during the growth phase and coccobacillary during the stationary phase.^4,5 The oxidase-negative characteristic allows one to differentiate acinetobacter from other important gram-negative bacteria such as pseudomonas and neisseria.^4,5 This information can be useful with respect to diagnosis . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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