Case Study 2: Choose one of the following for your case study.
- You are on an airplane returning from a trip to India where you have been assisting with earthquake victims. One of the flight attendants approaches you and tells you that one of the passengers on the airplane appears to be quite ill and asks for your assistance. The passenger, a resident of the earthquake area, indicates to you that for the past 4 hours he has been vomiting and has had severe diarrhea. The diarrhea is not bloody, but the appearance is rice-like. The patient has a rapid pulse, and tenting of the skin and is complaining of a dry mouth. What is the patient most likely suffering from?
- An 8 year old girl is brought to your office by her mother, who tells you that the girl has been complaining of a sore throat for 3 days. Thinking that the girl was developing a cold, she kept her daughter home from school with the hope that she would get better. She has become worse in the past day, however, developing a fever of 103 degrees F, a headache, and complaining of abdominal pain. As you examine her throat, you see that in addition to red and enlarged tonsils, that there are white patches on them, and that there are swollen lymph glands on both sides of her neck. What is the likely culprit?
This case study is an opportunity for you to evaluate information related to the course material as you solve a clinical problem, and present your reasoning and evidence in an organized manner.
List which are the suspected pathogens and why
Address each piece of information (symptoms, laboratory tests etc.) and provide possible causes. It is acceptable to group items if they form part of a known syndrome.
Discussion
Discussion will have two parts.
Which lab tests would you use to identify/confirm the pathogen
Explain a particular pathogenic mechanism (ex. In botulism it would be an exotoxin)
Explain the reasoning for a treatment (for botulism you need an antitoxin to neutralize the toxin)