Question

An urban male in his 40’s, smoker, presents with fever, malaise, cough and difficulty breathing. He is up to date on his immunizations, including DPT (this is a type of vaccine). He reports no interaction/exposure with animals, and no travel outside the U S in the last 3 years.

A gram stain of lung sputum shows gram positive diplococcus. An acid fast stain of lung sputum is negative for acid fast bacteria. See link for notes on collecting specimens: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/microbiology/specimen/index.html

1. Difficulty breathing suggests: ___________________.

2. His being up-to-date on his DPT allows the ruling out of _____________ ______________. (in rare cases vaccines can be ineffective)

3. Negative result on Acid fast stain allows ruling out of _______________.

4. Based on the information above, what is your diagnosis? Your textbook or reliable websites (.gov, .org, .edu) can be a good source of information.

5. Of what significance is the fact that he is a smoker?

Answer 1

Ans1) respiratory tract infection

Ans2) deptheria and pertussis

Ans3) tuberculosis

Ans4) the diagnosis should be pneumonia cause by streptococcus pneumoniae

Ans5) smoking causes weakening of respiratory system's physical barriers.