Chapter 23- Infectious Diseases II: Bacterial Infections Flashcards
What is meningitis?
It is inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and the spinal cord.
What are the symptoms of meningitis?
Fever, headache, stiff neck, and altered mental status
What are the common pathogens that cause meningitis?
- Listeria Monocytogenes (This is the strongest one that requires additional treatment with ampicillin)
- Streptococcus pneumoniae
- Neisseria meningitidis
- Haemophilis influenzae
What are the treatment durations for the following pathogens?
- Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilis influenzae: 7 days
- Streptococcus pneumoniae: 14 days
- Listeria monocytogenes: 21 days
To prevent neurological symptoms, Dexamethasone can be give a few minutes prior or along with the antibiotic dose.
Know the empiric treatment regimen for meningitis. It has to be drawn out. It can be done on this flashcard. Memorize it and know it.
What is Acute Otitis Media?
It is a painful type of ear infection. It is the most common infection in young children that requires antibiotics.
How do we treat Acute Otitis Media?
There are two routes that we want to try to go with: Observation and antibiotic therapy. We use observation when the symptoms are not severe. Once they become severe, we begin using antibiotics.
What are non-severe symptoms of acute otitis media?
- Minimal pain in only one ear if the child is below 2 years of age.
- Minimal pain in both ears if the child is above 2 years of age.
- Temperature is below 102.2 degrees fahrenheit
- Symptoms have been occurring for less than 48 hours
If the symptoms go above and beyond these, we officially have to treat them with antibiotics.
How do we treat Acute Otitis Media once the symptoms are severe?
To treat the pain, we can administer acetaminophen or ibuprofen to the child.
What is Tuberculosis?
This is an infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. IT usually infects the lungs but it can spread to other organs.
What are the two types of Tuberculosis?
- Latent: This is when the immune system has the disease suppressed and the patient does not display any symptoms (Coughing up blood, sneezing, fever, night sweats, etc…)
- Active: This is when the patient does actually demonstrate the symptoms. It is highly contagious and it is spread by aerosolized droplets (Coughing, talking, spitting, etc…)
How do we diagnose Tuberculosis?
We can conduct the Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) which is an injection given to the patient. 48-72 hours later, if there is a bump at the site of injection, it means there is TB present. However, the result can be a false-positive if the patient recently received the TB vaccine. Therefore, the absolute true way to find out if the patient has TB is to conduct the IGRA blood test.
