x x

   

 

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

x

 

IMMUNOLOGY

BACTERIOLOGY

VIROLOGY

PARASITOLOGY

MYCOLOGY

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

CONTRIBUTORS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

 Real time PCR tutorial

 

 

 

 

 

 


Lower Respiratory Tract Infections
 

Dr Patsy Lill
Professor Emerita
University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Non-productive cough

A 23-year-old woman presented with cough and malaise.  She reported that the illness had begun gradually but has steadily gotten worse.  She had a non-productive hacking cough.  Her temperature was 38.4.  Lab studies showed the presence of cold agglutinins and X-rays showed the presence of pneumonia.  She was treated with erythromycin for 10 days and reported improvement.  However, 2 weeks later she returned to the clinic with complaints of the same illness.  Cold agglutinins were present at high titers.  She was placed on erythromycin for 16 days.  This time the improvement remained after she finished her course of antibiotics.  An image of the lung typical for this illness is shown below.
 

The organism that MOST likely caused her disease was:

1. Streptococcus pneumoniae
2. Influenza A virus
3. Mycobacterium tuberculosis
4. Hemophilus influenzae
5. Mycoplasma pneumonia
 

ANSWER

 
  Return to the Microbiology On-line Textbook front page

Return to Lower Respiratory Tract Infections page

Pathology questions by Dr Patsy Lill