Blog

An outbreak of gastroenteritis follows a seafood “fun in the sun” episode. In addition to the routine culture media for isolation of enteric pathogens the following should be added:

Normally the bicarbonate concentration is about 24 mmol/L and the carbonic acid concentration is about 1.2 mmol/L pK = 6.1, log 20 = 1.3.  Using the equation pH = pK + log (salt/acid), calculate pH.

A missionary returning from a trip to Southeast Asia is diagnosed as having scrub typhus.  What organism is responsible?

In which of the following would you find a negative urine urobilinogen?

A patient has become refractory to platelet transfusions.  Which of the following is the most probable cause?

The media used to indicate H2S production, Indole production, and motility is:

The analysis of a blood specimen reveals the following hematological values:            WBC = 25,000/cu mm (2.5 x 109/L)            HCT = 32%       Hb = 10.5 g/dl            Leukocyte differential =                         monocytes-4                 bands-25                        myelocytes-4                lymphocytes-20                        segs-30                                    metamyelocytes – 15                        promyelocytes – 2            Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase score = 150            These results are strongly indicative of what disease state?

An anaerobic organism with the following characteristics is isolated:Gram-negative BacilliResistant to penicillin (2 U Disc) and kanamycin (1 mg Disc), sensitive to rifampin(15 mg disc)Hydrolyses esculinGrows in presence of 20% of bileOn LD bile agar produces precipitate            The organism is most likely to be:

The following results were obtained on a 73 year old black male: ALP 175 IU/I. (ULN = 100) GGT 4 IU/I. (ULN = 6) ALT 13 IU/I. (ULN = 29) **ULN=upper limit of normal Which of the following diseases do these results most correlate with?

A large gram-positive, spore-forming bacillus has been isolated from a wound in the arm of a man working in a leather factory.  Which tests would help identify the organism as Bacillus anthracis?