title: Moraxella lacunata
text: # Moraxella lacunata
  
  Moraxella lacunata is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative, nonmotile bacterium, generally present as diploid pairs. It causes one of the commonest forms of catarrhal conjunctivitis.
  
  ## History
  
  Moraxella lacunata was first described independently by Victor Morax (1896) and Theodor Axenfeld (1897), hence the alternate name "Morax-Axenfeld diplobacilli" and the name of eye infection in humans is sometimes called Morax-Axenfeld conjunctivitis.
  
  ## Characters
  
  It has the ability to change its morphology in laboratory. M. lacunata became shorter and tended to lose its Gram-negative staining characteristic when left out for 5 days. It also tended to retain these new characteristics on subsequent blood-agar transfers.
  
  ## Clinical significance
  
  Infection occurs mainly in adults, but can occur at any age. It is characterized by:
  
  * Chronic, mild angular blepharoconjunctivitis frequently localized on the lid at the outer canthus
  * Typical erythema of the edges of the lids
  * Slight maceration of the skin, most marked at the angles, especially the outer canthus
  * Superficial infiltration of the cornea is not uncommon.
  * The discharge is grayish yellow, adherent to the lashes, and accumulates mainly at the angles.
  