24th May 2023

A 45-year-old patient with sickle cell disease presents with cough, fever and shortness of breath

A 45-year-old patient with sickle cell disease presents with cough, fever and shortness of breath. On examination, he has coarse crepitations in the left lower zone with bronchial breathing. You also notice some old surgical scars on his abdominal wall. He is mildly anaemic with a raised white cell count and raised C-reactive protein on his blood tests. There is consolidation on his chest X-ray. Blood cultures done during admission have grown a Gram-negative coccobacillus.

What is the most likely causative organism of this patient’s illness?