PLE Category: Microbiology

PLE-3310

Which of the following acute phase reactants are not upregulated in inflammatory conditions?

PLE-3311

What is the incubation period of malaria?

PLE-3304

An 8-month-old, previously healthy, came into your clinic for a high-grade fever lasting for 3 days. Further history revealed that on the 4th day, after the fever had resolved, a rose-red macular rash, 2-6 mm in diameter, appeared on her trunk and proximal extremities. What is the most likely etiologic agent in this case?

PLE-3305

A 14-year-old patient is brought in by his parents because of a sore throat. On P.E., he is febrile and has pharyngeal erythema with a tonsillar abscess. A throat culture on sheep blood agar yields colonies of gram-positive cocci that are surrounded by a zone of complete hemolysis. The organism was also plated on mannitol salt agar; it grew well and caused the medium to turn gold. Which of the following microorganisms is the most likely cause of the patient’s illness?

PLE-3306

A patient with AIDS presents with headaches of increasing severity and mental lethargy. On P.E., macronodular skin lesions are noted. The CSF is clear, and protein and glucose concentrations are within normal levels. On India ink wet mount, encapsulated yeasts can be seen. Which of the following methods will permit rapid confirmation of the identity of the infective organism?

PLE-3301

A 24-year-old call center agent was diagnosed with AIDS. One week after, he experienced persistent watery diarrhea, secondary to a bacterial etiology. Which of the following is the most likely subtype of E. coli?

PLE-3302

What is the term for the radiographically detectable calcification of a subpleural granuloma and its associated lymph node in primary complex, seen in a 3-year-old female with persistent cough for more than 2 weeks, anorexia, and night sweats, and whose sputum exam was consistent with PTB?

PLE-3303

A psychotic, indigent man with a history of multi-substance abuse has been involuntarily hospitalized for 1 week because of persistent diarrhea. A stool sample was sent for ova and parasites, revealing numerous granular, spherical, thin-walled cysts measuring 10-20 um in diameter. Trichrome stains show up to four nuclei in most of the cysts. These findings are consistent with an infection by which of the following organisms?

PLE-3297

Schistosoma japonicum, an oriental blood fluke, resides in the mesenteric and portal veins. What is its second intermediate host?