Infection Flashcards
What condition in the breast are women who smoke heavily more likely to develop?
Periductal mastitis - it can present with recurrent infections requiring antibiotics. Imaging will reveal no mass lesions.
What most commonly causes a brown-green nipple discharge?
Duct ectasia is associated with brown-green discharge. It is a condition often found in women around the menopause and occurs due to dilatation of the milk duct as a result of ageing.
What timeline is useful to remember the likely causes of postoperative fever?
Day 1-2 = wind: pneumonia, aspiration, PE
Day 3-5 = water: UTI
Day 5-7 = wound: infection at the surgical site or abscess formation
Day 5+ = walking: DVT or PE
Anytime = drugs, transfusion reactions, sepsis, line contamination
What are the 5 W’s for post-operative infection?
Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs
What type of virus is HIV?
A lentivirus from the subfamily of retroviruses. Lentiviruses have a long latent phase between infection and the development of symptoms.
How many main types of HIV are there, and which is the most common?
Two types: HIV 1 and HIV 2, with HIV1 being highly virulent and is found worldwide, whereas HIV-2 is mainly in West Africa, but also reportedly in Portugal, France, India and South America.
