A 66-year-old male presents to your clinic with complaints of a sudden onset influenza-like illness. He describes symptoms such as high fever, chills, backache, headache, myalgia, and retro-orbital pain. Additionally, he has experienced some episodes of nausea and vomiting. Considering his age, which of the following viral infections are you most concerned about as the underlying cause of his symptoms?
A 7-month-old infant has had watery diarrhea for 6 days; he vomited a couple of times. The stools have no blood and no pus. He is dehydrated. He has not been outside of Cincinnati. Two other toddlers who visited for a day also are sick. What is most likely causing this?
A 63-year-old woman presents with signs of a gastric ulcer. She does not regularly take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Which characteristic appears to play a central role in the organism’s ability to survive transit of the lumen to colonize the stomach?
A 64-year-old alcoholic presents complaining of chest pain, fever, shaking chills, cough, and myalgia. She was very cold two nights ago and says she has felt poorly ever since. Her cough is producing rust-colored, odorless, mucoid sputum. Her temperature on admission is 40°C. Her white blood cell count is 16,000 cells/mm3 and is predominantly neutrophils with an overall left shift. An α-hemolytic, lancet-shaped, Gram-positive diplococcus is isolated on blood agar. What is the most likely causative agent?
A 64-year-old female Peace Corps worker is sent back to the states from East Africa because she had had a very high fever and African sleeping sickness is suspected. What characteristic of the organism makes it a fatal infection unless treated properly?
A 65-year-old man living on a farm in southern Minnesota is brought on July 15 to the emergency room by his brother. The brother said the man had a 2-day history of fever, headache, and some vomiting, but today he appeared confused. He is confused by some of the simple questions you ask him. His spinal tap is clear with 75% PMNs and a head CT is normal. The most likely cause of his symptoms is
A 6-year-old develops watery diarrhea, which becomes bloody, frightening him. He is afebrile but becoming very ill. Macroscopic examination of the feces shows no areas of pus; microscopically, there was no excess of PMNs over that expected from peripheral blood. If his disease is a result of a trip to a Wisconsin dairy farm and petting cattle, what is most likely causing the bleeding?
A 6-year-old Somali immigrant girl presented to the local Family Medicine Clinic with a 2-day history of headache, earache, and swallowing difficulty. Physical examination showed bilateral swelling of the parotid glands. She had been in this country for 4 months and had started her childhood vaccinations 2 weeks ago. The genetic nature of the pathogen causing her disease is
A 58-year-old man presents at the emergency department with labored breathing and a sharp stabbing pain behind the breast bone. He complains of being weak and tired. He has a low-grade fever and an electrocardiogram shows elevated ST segments. The most likely infectious cause of these symptoms is
A 58-year-old man presents with paranasal swelling, hemorrhagic exudates in the eyes and nares, and mental lethargy. Nonseptate hyphae are found invading the tissues. Rhinocerebral Mucor infection (zygomycosis) is diagnosed. What is the most likely underlying condition?