Question

viral infection             

                  In the late winter Bob, a 19 year old male, living in the dorms at college came down suddenly with a virus which kept him out of classes for 3 days.

Bob’s day started out as a regular day and he went to his classes as he normally does. As the day went on Bob began to feel tired and worn out but he figured it was just due to a lack of sleep and stress. That night he laid down for bed and recognized he was running a slight fever so he thought he would just sleep it off and feel better in the morning. The next morning when he awoke he had a high fever, chills, body aches and nausea. Bob only left his bed a couple times that day to go to the bathroom or to get a glass of water. As the day went on his symptoms only got worse, by that night his fever, chills, and aches were also accompanied by diarrhea. The next day Bob then began experiencing vomiting on top of his current symptoms and was unable to drink water or eat any food without it making his stomach feel worse. By that night he was beginning to feel much better, and within 2 days he had almost fully recovered.

Questions

1) What was Jeff suffering from?

2) How do we know this wasn’t the flu?

3) How should his illness have been treated?

Answer 1

Answer:

1. From the symptoms above, it appears that Bob was suffering from Viral gastroenteritis.

2. It was not flu because Bob did not experience the other symptoms of flu as stated under:

a. Nasal: congestion, runny nose, or sneezing

b. Throat: irritation or soreness

c. Cough: can be dry, with phlegm, or mild

3. Many people do not need any treatment because their symptoms will get better on their own. Antibiotics are not indicated in viral diseases. Some individuals may benefit from IV fluids.

Inorder to feel better, the patient can:

a. Drink plenty of fluids so that the patient doesn't get dehydrated

b. Avoid drinking juice or soda as this can make diarrhea worse

c. Eatting small meals and avoid eating foods with a lot of fat or sugar

d. Not advisable to take anti-diarrhea medicines as these can make the infection last longer