Parents bring in a 6-month-old who suddenly has lost developmental ground and is no longer able to hold his head up or sit up. In taking the health history, they did note constipation a couple of days before. The EEG confirms a pattern consistent with botulism. After assuring them that with monitoring and support the child will survive, the parents become terribly concerned that the loss of development might be permanent. What can you tell them about their child’s prognosis?
The CSF from a 3-week-old infant with meningitis shows rods with tumbling motility. These bacteria are found to be Gram-positive and do not form spores. What is the most likely agent?
Mobile genetic elements that code for antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria but are incapable of self-replication are:
On September 17, a 23-year-old male college student appears at the Student Health Clinic complaining of moderate headache, nausea, and vomiting. His temperature is 38.5°C/101°F and his physical examination shows stiffness in the neck. What is the most likely viral cause of the symptoms?
One month post delivery, an infant boy becomes extremely irritable and continuously rubs his right eye, which contains a mucopurulent exudate. An examination of the eye shows papillae on the conjunctiva. No bacteria are seen in the exudate. The most likely causative infectious agent is
In which processes is bacteriophage that contains host-cell DNA involved?
In which processes is the exchange of allelic forms of genes involved?
In which structures are polymers of N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid found?
Is there a commercial vaccine made using recombinant technology that consists of virion subunits?
Joe has been HIV positive for the past 7 years. His disease has been slowly progressing. Mike, his only partner for the past 4 years, is free of the disease. A plausible explanation for Mike’s lack of infection would be