Cutibacterium acnes

Background

Microbiology

• Facultatively aerobic, Gram-positive bacillus
• Slow-growing
• Commensal organism of the skin flora

Clinical Manifestations

• A member of normal skin flora
• Associated with acne (hence the name)
• Possible association with sarcoidosis (found in bronchoalveolar lavage)
• Can cause prosthetic shoulder infections, and other hardware infections

Management

• Can be treated with penicillin, ceftriaxone, clindamycin, and vancomycin
• Very low resistance to doxycycline
• Likely susceptible to first-generation cephalosporins1