A 6-Hour-Old Boy Is Evaluated in the Newborn Nursery Due

A 6-hour-old boy is evaluated in the newborn nursery due to temperature instability, grunting, and lethargy.  The patient was born at full term to a 21-year-old woman who came to the emergency department in active labor with ruptured membranes; she had not received adequate prenatal care.  On physical examination, the boy is hypothermic, tachycardic, and tachypneic, and he has mottled skin.  Blood samples are obtained, and empiric antibiotics are initiated for the treatment of sepsis.  Cultures on blood agar grow bacterial colonies with a narrow zone of clear hemolysis.  When these bacteria are grown in the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, the zone of hemolysis is enhanced around the staphylococcal colonies.  Which of the following is the most likely pathogen infecting this patient?

A) Escherichia coli
B) Enterococcus faecalis
C) Staphylococcus epidermidis
D) Streptococcus agalactiae
E) Streptococcus pneumoniae

Correct Answer:

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