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.