KROK 1 2019 – Question 174 · KROK (Medicine) · Microbiology, Virology, and Immunology
A 43-year-old man seeks evaluation at an emergency department with complaints of fever with chills, malaise, diffuse abdominal pain for over a week, diarrhea and loss of appetite. He says that his symptoms are progressively getting worse. He recalls that the fever began slowly and climbed its way up stepwise to the current 39.8°C. His blood pressure is 110/70 mm Hg. A physical exam reveals a coated tongue, enlarged spleen and rose spots on the abdomen. Serologic study shows the agglutinin O titre of 1:200 by the Widal test. Which of the following is the most likely causative organism for this patient’s condition?
- A. Salmonella typhi
- B. Leptospira interrogans
- C. Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- D. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli
- E. Vibrio cholerae
Hint
Consider what the Widal reaction detects and how stepwise fever, an enlarged spleen and skin spots point to a systemic bacteremic illness rather than a purely intestinal one.
The answer, the explanation and a note on every option are available once you log in. The account is free: topic tests, a mock exam, mistake review and statistics.
More questions on Microbiology, Virology, and Immunology
- Shigella capable of producing exotoxin was obtained from a patient diagnosed with dysentery. What Shigella species is it?
- A woman hospitalized in the surgical department complains of pain in her lower abdomen and in the small of her back, frequent and painful urination…
- A bacteriologist found in a sick child the causative agents of Flexner dysentery type 2, Sonne dysentery type 1, and enteropathogenic colibacillus…
- A 2-year-old child was diagnosed with thymic hypoplasia. What indicator of the immune system status is the most characteristic of this type of…
- A patient with characteristically hypoplastic thymus suffers from DiGeorge syndrome. What type of immunological pathology is it?
- A medical student was hospitalized into the infectious diseases unit on the 2nd day after the disease onset. The patient is suspected to have…