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Leaky Faucet

   A 22-year-old college student complained to his physician of a purulent discharge from his penis. He also found that it was painful to urinate.

Question 1 - Single Best Answer

What is the most likely cause of the purulent penile discharge?   Bugs Database

Neisseria gonorrhoea
Haemophilus ducreyi
Treponema pallidum
Herpes virus
Chlamydia trachomatis

Question 2 - Single Best Answer

How could a diagnosis of gonorrhea be confirmed?   Bugs Database

casts in the urine
antibody to the gonococcal pili
Gram stain of the pus
DTH (skin test) using the outer membrane of N.g.
Growth of a Gram positive diplococcus on blood agar

Question 3 - Single Best Answer

If intracellular Gram negative diplococci are seen in the Gram stain of the urethral exudate, is there any reason to culture the organism?   Bugs Database

yes
no
only if the patient is allergic to penicillin

Question 4 - Single Best Answer

How should Neisseria gonorrhoea be cultured and identified?   Bugs Database

blood agar - beta haemolysis
blood agar - catalase positive
Thayer Martin agar - oxidase positive
MacConkey agar - lactose positive
chocolate agar - Hershey test

A positive diagnosis of gonorrhea was made and he was given amoxicillin (oral penicillin) and probenecid (an agent which increases the blood level of amoxicillin). He improved initially, but returned to his doctor after 7 days because he noticed he had a milder but persistent urethral discharge and that the pain on urination had returned. Initially, he thought that this was just the gonorrhea in the process of being cured, but now he was getting worried. His girlfriend, worried that he might have AIDS, accompanied him on this second visit to the doctor. The doctor examined them both and found that the man did, indeed, have a clear watery discharge from his penis. His girlfriend had no pain or discharge. However, her cervix was seen to be slightly inflamed and was secreting a small amount of pus. Gram stains of the secretions of both individuals showed numerous neutrophils, but no Gram negative cocci.

Question 5 - Single Best Answer

What is the most likely cause of the new problem in the young man?   Bugs Database

a different strain of Neisseria gonorrhoea
the same strain of Neisseria gonorrhoea
a yeast infection accompanying AIDS
Chlamydia trachomatis
a penicillin resistant strain of E. coli that grew when the normal flora were killed by the antibiotic

Question 6 - Single Best Answer

How could you confirm your diagnosis of Chlamydia infection?   Bugs Database

culture the discharge on Thayer-Martin agar
directly look for chlamydiae using a fluorescent antibody
grow the suspected organism in tissue culture (a culture of human epithelial cells)
PCR for Chlamydia DNA
more than one of the above

Question 7 - Single Best Answer

Why did the chlamydia infection not manifest itself until the gonorrhea infection was treated?   Bugs Database

the two infections do not occur together
the symptoms of the chlamydia infection were masked by the pus

Question 8 - Single Best Answer

How should the young man have been treated initially (on his first visit)?   Bugs Database

a penicillinase-resistant penicillin should have been used
he should have had tetracycline or doxycycline instead of penicillin
he should have had tetracycline or doxycycline in addition to penicillin
he received the best possible treatment

Question 9 - Single Best Answer

How should he be treated now?   Bugs Database

a longer course of penicillin
tetracycline or doxycycline
acyclovir

Question 10 - Single Best Answer

What do you think is the cause of the girlfriend's cervical inflammation?   Bugs Database

Treponema pallidum
Neisseria gonorrhoea
Chlamydia trachomatis
HIV infection
more than one of the above is possible

Question 11 - Single Best Answer

How could you be sure?   Bugs Database

VDRL (serology)
HIV antibody test
streak a swab of the cervix on Thayer-Martin agar
fluorescein-labeled anti-chlamydia antibody or PCR for Chlamydia DNA
both C and D

Question 12 - Single Best Answer

A fluorescent antibody was used and detected chlamydiae on a cervical smear. Nothing grew on the Thayer-Martin plate. How should the young woman be treated?   Bugs Database

no treatment is necessary
penicillin should do the trick
tetracycline or doxycycline
acyclovir

Question 13 - Single Best Answer

What might be the consequences for her if she had not been diagnosed and treated?   Bugs Database

infection and scarring of her Fallopian tubes
inability to become pregnant
premature delivery if she is pregnant
pneumonia or conjunctivitis in her infant if she is pregnant
all of the above

Question 14 - Single Best Answer

How is the damage in a chlamydia infection caused?   Bugs Database

a toxin
adhesin
death of the phagocytes
persistent inflammation
activation of TNF (tumor necrosis factor)

Question 15 - Single Best Answer

What is an elementary body?   Bugs Database

the intracellular form of the chlamydiae
the extracellular form of the chlamydiae
the inclusion body in the host cell that contains the replicating chlamydiae
the adhesin by which the reticulate body attaches to the host cell
the vesicle that the chlamydiae use to get ATP from the host cell into their ( the chlamydia's) mitochondria

   

 Location: http://medinfo.ufl.edu/year2/mmid/a16aq.html
  Updated: November 28, 2006

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