Case Study, Part Three: Acute Onset PneumoniaA 70-year-old transient with a productive cough, pleuritic chest pain radiating to the mid back, fever, and chills was seen in the emergency room. Expectorated sputum was sent to the laboratory for Gram stain and culture.The Gram stain is reported as "Many WBC with gram-positive cocci (GPC) in pairs." The possible presumptive identifications might inclu

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Case Study, Part Three: Acute Onset Pneumonia
A 70-year-old transient with a productive cough, pleuritic chest pain radiating to the mid back, fever, and chills was seen in the emergency room. Expectorated sputum was sent to the laboratory for Gram stain and culture.
The Gram stain is reported as "Many WBC with gram-positive cocci (GPC) in pairs." The possible presumptive identifications might include GPC consistent with Enterococcus or Streptococcus species.
The patient was admitted to the hospital. The sputum specimen was inoculated to sheep blood agar. Based on the colony morphology and the alpha hemolysis seen in the image, what is the MOST likely identification?

Please select the single best answer