A 44 year-old male presents with a fever, a cough productive of brownish sputum, rigors and lethargy for seven days. A chest x-ray reveals a right middle lobe infiltrate and a right-sided pleural effusion. A thoracentesis is performed. Which of the following results from the pleural fluid analysis would be most characteristic of acute pneumonia?
A. pleural fluid:serum LDH ratio >0.6
B. pleural fluid specific gravity < 1.006
C. pleural fluid without protein
D. pleural fluid without LDH
E. pleural fluid:serum protein ratio <0.5