Essentials of Diagnosis Flashcards
Fever of Unknown Origin
- Illness of at least 3 weeks duration
- Fever over 38.3C on several occasions
- Diagnosis has not been made after 3 outpatient visits or 3 days of hospitalization
Bacteremia
- A bacterial invasion into blood circulation.
- Can occur when you brush your teeth, pick a scab, or squeeze a zit
- May result from any type of dental or surgical procedure.
- May or may not cause any symptoms, depending on whether the organism was able to replicate themselves in the blood stream.
- May progress to septicemia, especially if an individual has a weakened immune system.
Septic Shock
- Hypotension, tachycardia, oliguria, altered mental status
- Peripheral hypoperfusion and impaired oxygen delivery
- Occurs secondary to bacteremia caused by e.coli, klebsiella, proteus, and pseudomonas
Nosocomial Infections
- Health care-associated infections that are acquired during the course of receiving health care treatment for other conditions
- Infections not present or incubating at the time of hospital admission
- Develop 48 hours or more after admission
- Most are preventable, esp via hand washing
Bacterial Endocarditis
- Fever
- Preexisting organic heart lesion
- Positive blood cultures
- Evidence of vegetation on echocardiography
- New or changing heart murmur
- Evidence of systemic emboli
Kawasaki Disease
- Fever, conjunctivitis, oral mucosal changes, rash, cervical lymphadenopathy, peripheral extremity changes
- Elevated ESR and CRP levels
- Occurs in Asians or native Pacific Islanders btw 3mo-5yo
Rubella (German Measles)
- Exposure 14-21 days before onset
- Arthralgia, particularly in young women
- No prodrome in kids; mild prodrome in adults
- Mild symptoms (fever, malaise, coryza) coinciding with eruption
- Posterior cervical and postauricular lymphadenopathy 5-10 days before rash
- Fine maculopapular rash of 3 days duration; fact to trunk to extremities
- Leukopenia, thrombocytopenia
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Exposure to tick bite in an endemic area
- An influenza-like prodome followed by chills, fever, severe headache, and myalgias; occasionally, delirium and coma
- Red macular rash appears btw 2nd and 6th days of fever, first on the wrists and ankles and then spreading centrally; it may become petechial
- Serial serologic examinations by indirect fluorescent antibody confirm the diagnosis retrospectively
Roseola (Exanthem Subitum or Fifth Disease)
- Sudden onset of high fever
- No diagnostic signs
- Development of rash as fever breaks after 3-4 days
- Caused by HHV 6
Erythema infectiosum (Sixth Disease)
- Fiery red “slapped cheek” appearance
- Circumoral pallor
- Subsequent lacy, maculopapular rash on trunk and limbs after fever and systemic symptoms
Lyme Disease
- Erythema migrans, a flat or slightly raised red lesion that expands with central clearing
- Headache or stiff neck
- Arthralgias, arthritis, and myalgias; arthritis is often chronic and recurrent
- Wide geographic distribution, with most of the US cases in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, upper Midwest, and Pacific coastal regions
Toxic Shock Syndrome
- Abrupt onset of high fever, vomiting, watery diarrhea
- A diffuse macular erythematous rash and nonpurulent conjunctivitis
- Desquamation of palms and soles common during recovery
- Blood cultures are negative
Rubeola (Measles)
- Exposure 10-14 days before onset in an unvaccinated patient
- Prodrome of fever, coryza, cough, conjunctivitis, malaise, irritability, photophobia, and Koplik spots
- Rash: brick red, irregular, maculopapular; onset 3-4 days after onset of prodrome; begins on face and proceeds “downward and outward”, affecting the palms and soles last
- Leukopenia
Varicella (Chickenpox) & Herpes Zoster (Shingles)
- Exposure 14-21 days before onset
- Fever and malaise just before eruption
- Rash: pruritic, centrifugal, papular, changing to vesicular (“dewdrops on a rose petal”), pustular, and finally crusting
Endemic Flea-Borne Typhus
- Gradual onset, less severe symptoms, and shorter duration of illness than epidemic typhus (7-10 days vs 10-14 days)
- Fever, headache, chills
- Maculopapular rash concentrated on the trunk
Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus
- Prodrome of headache, then chills and fever
- Severe, intractable headaches, prostration, persisting high fever
- Macular rash appearing on the 4th-7th days on the trunk and in the axillae, spreading to the rest of the body but sparing the face, palms, and soles
- Diagnosis confirmed by specific antibodies, using complement fixation, microagglutination, or immunofluorescence
Scarlet Fever
- Caused by group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus
- A diffusely erythematous rash resembling a sunburn, with superimposed fine red papules; most intense on the groin and axillas; branches on pressure
- Flushed face, circumoral pallor, the tongue is coated with enlarged red papillae (strawberry tongue)
Haemophilus Pneumonia
- May be seen in the elderly
- Shoulde be considered in patients with chronic lung disease, sickle cell disease, or immunocompromised disorders
- Routine vaccination of children has reduced the incidence in peds population
- Either a gradual progression of disease with low-grade fever and sputum production or occasionally have the sudden onset of chest pain, dyspnea, and sputum production
Legionella Pneumonia
- Patients are often immunocompromised, smokers, or have chronic lung disease
- No seasonality, so is a more prominent cause of pneumonia in the summer
- Scant sputum production, pleuritic chest pain, toxic appearance
- Chest radiograph: focal patchy infiltrates or consolidation
- Gram stain of sputum: polymorphonuclear leukocytes and no organisms
- Commonly complicated by GI symptoms (abd pain, vomiting, and diarrhea)
Klebsiella Pneumonia
- May occur in compromised patients: patients at risk of aspiration, alcoholics, the elderly, and other patients with chronic lung disease
- Acute onset of severe disease with fever, rigors, and chest pain
- Herpes labialis is occasionally associted
- May develop abscesses, but more commonly have a lobar infiltrate
Pneumococcal Pneumonia
- Productive cough, fever, rigors, dyspnea, early pleuritic chest pain
- Consolidating lobar pneumonia on chest radiograph
- Gram positive diplococci on gram stain of sputum
Mycoplasmal Pneumonia
-Occurs year round, tends to cluster in epidemics every 4-8 years
-Subacute respiratory illness with cough, sore throat, and headache
-Retrosternal chest pain
-
Hantaviruses
- Transmitted by rodents and cause two clinical syndromes
- Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS): mild to severe illness
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS): 40% mortality rate
- Ribavirin is used with some success in HFRS
Tuberculosis
- Fatigue, weight loss, fever, night sweats, and productive cough
- Risk factors for acquisition of infection: household exposure, incarceration, drug use, travel to an endemic area
- Chest radiograph: pulmonary opacities, most often apical
- Acid-fast bacilli on smear of sputum or sputum culture positive for M tuberculosis
Influenza
- Cases usually in epidemic pattern
- Abrupt onset with fever, chills, malaise, cough, coryza, and myalgias
- Aching, fever, and prostration out of proporiton to catarrhal symptoms
- Leukopenia
Pertussis
- Predominantly in infants under 2 years; adolescents and adults are important reservoirs of infection
- Two-week prodromal catarrhal stage of malaise, cough, coryza, and anorexia
- Paroxysmal cough ending in a high-pitched inspiratory “whoop”
- Absolute lymphocytosis, often striking; culture confirms diagnosis
Mumps
- Exposure 14-21 days before onset
- Painful, swollen salivary glands, usually parotid
- Frequent involvement of testes, pancreas, and meninges in unvaccinated individuals
Coccidiomycosis
- Influenza-like illness with malaise, fever, backache, headache, and cough
- Erythema nodosum common with acute infection
- Dissemination may result in meningitis, bony lesions, or skin and soft tissue abscesses
- Chest radiograph findings vary from pneumonitis to cavitation
- Serologic tests useful; spherules containing endospores demonstrable in sputum or tissues
Psittacosis
- Fever, chills, and cough; headache common
- Atypical pneumonia with slightly delayed appearance of signs and symptoms
- Contact with infected bird 7-15 days previously
- Isolation of chlamydiae or rising titer of complement fixing antibodies
Diphtheria
- Tenacious gray membrane at portal of entry in pharynx
- Sore throat, nasal discharge, hoarseness, malaise, fever
- Myocarditis, neuropathy
- Culture confirms the diagnosis
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
- Severe respiratory symptoms (cough, difficulty breathing) with fever over 38C
- Suspected exposure during the 10 days prior to illness
- Laboratory testing for the probably etiological agent, a coronavirus, is under development
Anthrax
-Appropriate epidemiologic setting (eg exposure to animals or animal hides, or potential exposure from an act of bioterrorism)
Tularemia
- History of contact with rabbits, other rodents, and biting arthopods (eg, ticks in summer) in endemic area
- Fever, headache, nausea, and prostration
- Papule progressing to ulcer at site of inoculation
- Enlarged regional lymph nodes
- Serologic tests or culture of ulcer, lymph node aspirate, or blood confirm the diagnosis
Dengue
- Travel or residence in an endemic area
- First infection (first episode) results in non-specific rash and fever; retro-orbital pain, severe myalgia, and arthalgia may occur
- Subsequent infection with a different (heterotypic) serotype of dengue may result in dengue hemorrhagic fever (thrombocytopenia, bleeding, plasma leak syndrome); this may progress to shock
Plague
- History of exposure to rodents in endemic area
- Sudden onset of high fever, malaise, muscular pains, and prostration
- Axillary or inguinal lymphadenitis (bubo)
- Bacteremia, pneumonitis, and meningitis may occur
- Positive smear and culture from bubo and positive blood culture
Cat Scratch Disease
- A papule or ulcer developing at inoculation site within a few days
- Fever, headache, and malaise 1-3 weeks later
- Enlarged, tender, suppurative regional lymph nodes
- History of getting scratched or bit from a cat
Toxoplasmosis
- Infection confirmed by isolation of toxoplasma gondii or identification of tachyzoites in tissue or body fluids
- PRIMARY INFECTION: fever, malaise, headache, sore thraot; lymphadenoapthy, positive IgG and IgM serologic tests
- CONGENITAL INFECTION: follows acute infection of seronegative mothers and leads to CNS abnormalities and retinochoroiditis
- INFECTION IN IMMUNOCOMPROMISED: Reactivation leads to encephalitis, retinochoroiditis, pneumonitis, myocarditis; positive IgG but negative IgM serolgoic tests
Malaria
- Residence or exposure in a malaria-endemic area
- Intermittent attacks of chills, fever, and sweating
- Headache, myalgia, vomiting, splenomegaly; anemia, thrombocytopenia
- Intraerythrocytic parasites identified in thick or thin blood smears
- Complications of falciparum malaria: cerebral malaria, severe anemia, hypotension, noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, acute kidney failure, hypoglycemia, acidosis, and hemolysis