At an isolated weather station in the central United States, a technician emerges from a small brick shed grasping a balloon. It's not just any birthday party balloon, mind you, but a massive, white sphere more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter.
Lung abscess can also be caused by the spread of other infections from the liver, abdominal cavity, or open chest wounds. Rarely, AIDS patients can develop lung abscess from Pneumocystis carinii and other organisms that take advantage of a weakened immune system. Lung abscess is usually slow to develop.
A pulmonary abscess is defined as necrosis of the pulmonary parenchym caused by microbial infections. The most common organisms are anaerobe bacteria. Local conditions, host resistance and infecting agents all play a role in the formation of pulmonary abscesses.