Frederick S. Southwick

OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has tularemia? What should you expect to find? Patients usually present with the abrupt onset of fever, chills, malaise, myalgias, chest discomfort vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. A severe generalized headache is often present. Ulcero-glandular fever – In the most common form of…

OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has bacterial meningitis? What should you expect to find? Patients usually present with fever (which may be absent in patients receiving immunosuppressive agents) accompanied by meningeal symptoms and the physical findings indicative of meningitis. Headache. A generalized headache is the rule. A more…

OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has conjunctivitis? The typical patient presents with: Red (or pink) eye – Dilatation of the vessels within the conjunctiva, the normally transparent outer lining of the eye, causes the sclera to appear red. Exudate – A purulent discharge is very common; it is…

OVERVIEW: What every clinician needs to know Pathogen name and classification Nocardia species are thin, aerobic, gram-positive bacilli that form branching filaments. The bacteria stain irregularly and appear beaded on Gram stain. The speciation of Nocardia has been problematic. The original classification was based on the ability to use specific nutrients and to decompose substrates…

OVERVIEW: What every clinician needs to know Pathogen name and classification Shigella is a nonmotile gram-negative bacillus that does not ferment lactose. It grows readily on standard media and can be easily isolated using selective media. It is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family and is closely related to E. coli. Shigella contains a 220-kb…

OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has keratitis? What should you expect to find? Keratitis, inflammation of the cornea, can be sight-threatening and must be recognized promptly. Key symptom: Eye pain. Each time the eyelid migrates across the inflamed cornea, the patient experiences pain. Other symptoms:Related Content Foreign body…