Answers To Last Week's Case Study

Questions and Answers

1. What organism do you suspect the patient has?

Vibrio cholerae.

2. What key symptom(s) aided in the identification?

Profuse diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, and she had been in salt water. 

3. What type(s) of culture would be collected for you to work with in the laboratory? (i.e. blood, urine, stool, etc)

We would need a stool sample for culture.

4. What selective media would you use to isolate the organism?

TCBS (Thiosulfate Citrate Bile Salts Sucrose) Agar.

5. List any additional unique characteristic(s) about this organism, that was not discussed in class? (i.e. treatment methods, additional symptoms, etc)

Persons with cholera do not become carriers of the disease after they recover, but can be reinfected if exposed again.

Case Study

A 23 year old female presents to her primary care physician with complaints of profuse watery diarrhea, following a spring break trip to the Bahamas 1 week prior. She also complained of experiencing dehydration. She reported that her and a few friends spent some time in the water, but not long. In addition, the physician documented that the patient had lost a significant amount of weight.


Questions (I figured this could help you get 50 words or more)

1. What organism do you suspect the patient has?

2. What key symptom(s) aided in the identification?

3. What type(s) of culture would be collected for you to work with in the laboratory? (i.e. blood, urine, stool, etc)

4. What selective media would you use to isolate the organism?

5. List any additional unique characteristic(s) about this organism, that was not discussed in class? (i.e. treatment methods, additional symptoms, etc)

Answer to Case Study

The answer to last week's case study is D. 

Enterococcus species

Case Study

Case: 

An elderly wheelchair bound man had a history of recurrent urinary tract infections. He presents with new onset of fever, chills, and confusion. Blood cultures were drawn.

The Gram stain showed: 

Image from: https://web.duke.edu

The Culture showed: 

 Image from: http://www.retroscope.eu

The organism grown was catalase negative, and PYR positive.
 
What is the most likely organism?

1. Streptococcus viridans
2. Staphylococcus epidermidis
3. Staphylococcus saprophyticus
4. Enterococcus species

References 

1. Duke Medicine. (2013, Feb 13). Pathology Learning Resources. Retrieved from https://web.duke.edu/pathology/MicroCases/MicroCases.html.