Question

Case study: 3 Read the case study and answer the questions. A 23-year-old woman was brought to the emergency room in a semiconscious state. Three days prior to admission she had attempted to terminate a 12-week pregnancy by inserting and manipulating a wire coat hanger into her uterus On physical examination she was sweating profusely despite a normal temperature , respirations were shallow and rapid, and she was hypotensive . Pelvic examination revealed a tender uterus and a thin, brownish , foul- smelling exudate coming from the cervix . Gram stain of the exudate showed many large Gram positive rods and a few white blood cells. A urine specimen obtained by catheter was colored red, and a blood specimen likewise showed the serum to be red . The red color of the urine and serum was due to free hemoglobin . The abdominal film revealed gas in the uterus . The patient was started on pressor agents (to raise the blood pressure ) and antibiotics , a unit of blood was transfused , and she was taken to the operating room where an emergency hysterectomy was performed . The patient developed renal failure and irreversible shock and died 8 hours later . Cultures of blood and the uterine exudate obtained on admission both grew out the causative bacteria . Questions : 1. What is the disease ? 2. What is the causative organism ? 3. Where are this organism and other members of the same genus found ? 4. What other diseases are caused by this organisms and other members of the same genus ? 5. Describe the methods used for the treatment of this disease?

Answer 1

Answer 1. The disease is Septicemia or the septic shock caused due to some bacterial infection in which the toxins enter the blood stream and reaches the other organs of body like kidneys, heart, lungs, etc.

Answer 2. The causative agents for the septic shocks are the most probable gram positive bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, or Streptococcus pyogenes, or E. coli species. And rarely it caused by fungi, like by Candida.

Answer 3. The causative agents are majorly found on skin and inside the intestine. When they are affected by any foreign stimuli, their number increases and they lead to septic shock.

Answer 4. The other diseases caused are like uterine tract infections, or skin infectiona, or septic arthritis, or pneumonia, or endocarditis, or diarrhoea, or neonatal meningitis.

Answer 5. To treat with the above mentioned diseases, some aspects of treatment and precautions need to be taken to lower the risk of disease.

. Physical checkups should be done before making a diagnostic plan.

. Proper diagnosis of the exact causative agent should be done by lab tests.

. The reports of the lab tests having cultures of the causative agents need to be studied well before administering any medicine.

. Proper rest is mandatory in such in such infections, because the disease will go away with time only.

. Antibiotic treatments are mandatory to be taken after doctor's consultation.