Natasha was certain she was looking younger despite her 58
years on this Earth. Every day in the mirror her lines seemed to
disappear. She had searched so long for something to slow the
process of aging; her marriage depended on it! Vladimir would never
stay with her if he saw the wrinkles she did! Even her precious
parrot, Bruno, had noticed and shied away from her! She could never
live without him so she tried it all: mercury creams, Botox, weight
pills from the ancient woman in the south side market of Moscow,
Switzerland’s best cell therapy, and one pint of honey and another
of yogurt every day!
But a week or two after her “youth” came back she wasn’t
feeling nearly so good…. Finally she went to the hospital because
her fever was so high (102.8). She also had a non-stop horrible
cough, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and a terrible headache.
As the attendant physician at the hospital you try to narrow it
down based on the patient profile, potential exposures and
symptoms.
?
1) What are the top five infectious diseases? Justify your
choices.
2) You send off for some laboratory tests right away and find
the information below. Explain these results. Does this change your
diagnosis? If so how? (6 points)
a. Leukocytes – 6,000,000,000/L
b. Platelets – 700,000/ L
c. RBC – 450,000,000/L
d. Hb – 14g/dL
e. HCT% - 49
f. Bilirubin – 6 mg/dL
g. Creatinine – 0.97 mg/dL
3) Natasha’s cough got worse and worse and the clock seemed to
be ticking. The results of the molecular and immunological panel
are below. Has your reasoning been confirmed? Interpret them and
describe how they work. (12 points)
a. Western immunoblotting (first lane ladder, second Natasha’s
blood, third positive control, fourth negative control)