PLE Category: Microbiology

PLE-3685

A 4-year-old girl is brought to your office by her mother who reports the child had a flu-like disease for the past week and now has developed a rash. Examination of the rash on the face and trunk shows general redness consistent with a slapped cheek. A single-stranded DNA virus that could be responsible is

PLE-3686

A 4-year-old girl presents with difficulty breathing and will not lie down to be examined. You suspect acute bacterial epiglottitis and examine the child’s epiglottis, which is highly inflamed. Which vaccine are you most likely to find that the child is missing?

PLE-3687

A 42-year-old woman develops cervical carcinoma. What viral protein played a role in the development of the carcinoma?

PLE-3688

A 45-year-old man arrives at the emergency department complaining of a painful and swollen jaw. He underwent a tooth extraction two days ago, which resulted in swollen and painful gums and jaw. Upon examination, palpable nodules are detected beneath the tissue surface, which are not lymph nodes. Which member of the gingival normal flora will grow continuously into the damaged tissues, causing tissue swelling? If left untreated, this condition may progress to the development of sinus tracts that will eventually erupt to the surface, releasing the aforementioned nodules.

PLE-3680

A 35-year-old woman comes in with an inflamed, itchy, expanding cutaneous lesion on her side. She suspects she might have picked it up from her dog because it is where the dog sleeps next to her and the dog is losing fur. (The dog also needs to be treated by the vet.) You treat the woman with a topical drug from one of the major drug families commonly used to treat the infection. What is the mechanism of action of that drug class?

PLE-3681

A 35-year-old woman presents with abdominal pain made better by ingestion of bland food. A diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori is made. If the DNA had been analyzed, a region of unique DNA coding for the Cag A protein and its type VI injection-like secretion system would be found. What is this segment of DNA called?

PLE-3682

A 36-year-old male AIDS patient is admitted to the hospital with a severe pneumonia. His x-ray reveals an interstitial pattern of infection, and laboratory analysis of his sputum confirms the presence of giant cells. Which medication is the most effective for treating this infection?

PLE-3683

A 36-year-old woman who is on chemotherapy is admitted in respiratory distress. She had signs of focal central nervous system (CNS) lesions early in the day and is now in a comatose state. Both the CNS and pulmonary biopsies show dichotomously-branching (at an acute angle), septate hyphae. What is the most likely underlying condition?

PLE-3684

A 4-year-old child develops acute glomerulonephritis following impetigo. The bacterium is a catalase-negative, Gram-positive coccus that has M12 surface protein. What is the most likely causative agent?