Group of similar gram negative, low pathogenicity organisms – not actually related to each other, but cause similar infections:

• Haemophilus (usually parainfluenzae, not H. influenzae which rarely causes endocarditis)
• Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (prev Actinobacillus)
• Cardiobacterium hominis
• Eikenella corrodens
• Kingella kingae

Commensals of the mouth – usually just cause dental infections but can cause endocarditis (gram positives are the usual cause) and osteomyelitis (esp Kingella – named after Elizabeth King – can be spread by respiratory route, so outbreaks of septic arthritis!).

May grow on chocolate agar but not the McConkey you usually use for gram negatives. Some beta-lactamase but most susceptible to cefalosporins.