Case description: A 90-year-old woman resides at an area nursing home. She shows signs of mild dementia, and because of
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 8:05 am
Case description: A 90-year-old woman resides at an area nursing
home. She shows signs of mild dementia, and because of severe
arthritis and requiring a walker for ambulation, she sits in a
chair most of the day. She has not used any form of estrogen in at
least 30 years. She also has a history of 4-5 confirmed urinary
tract infections per year. This morning, her caregiver was unable
to coax the patient out of her bed. She seems confused and
disoriented. Vital signs reveal tachycardia in the 120’s,
respirations at 24/min, and a blood pressure of 78/49. She is
immediately taken to an ER for evaluation. A CT of the abdomen and
a chest x-ray appear normal. She has a WBC count of 2300/μL. She
continues to show marked confusion compared to her baseline and is
exhibiting anxiety. Urine and blood samples are taken and sent for
culture and sensitivity. Assume your unknown is from both a urine
sample and a blood sample.
1. Type of infectious disease Based on the description given,
and without performing any further tests, what general type of
infectious disease do you think this patient has? (Examples of
general descriptions of infectious disease include wound infection,
gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, pharyngitis, pneumonia,
septicemia, etc.) Keep in mind at this point you do not know the
identity of the specific organism responsible for the disease.
2. Patient’s history, predisposing factors, signs, and symptoms
After reading the case study, explain how relevant parts of the
patient’s history, predisposing factors, signs, and symptoms
contributed to your initial diagnosis of the patient’s infectious
disease. To support your diagnosis, search at least one medically
oriented reference article from a reliable site which will allow
you to make a connection between the known signs, symptoms, and
predisposing factors of the specific infectious disease and those
shared by the patient. Reliable sources you might consider are
Medscape (http://emedicine.medscape.com/infectious_diseases) and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at
http://www.cdc.gov/. Cite any sources you use in APA style
(https://www.bibme.org/apa). 1
3. Vocabulary list for medical terms used in the case study List
and define any medical terms used in your case study that describe
the patient’s signs and symptoms that the average person not
working in the medical field might not know.
4. Results of laboratory test given in the case study List each
lab test result provided in the case study above and explain how
the results of that test helps you to diagnose this patient’s
disease. Refer to Appendix C (Complete Blood Count), Appendix D
(Urinalysis), and Appendix F (SIRS and Sepsis) in your lab manual
as needed. Links to each of these appendices can also be found on
Blackboard in “Lab 12 Project Materials”.
5. Microbiological lab tests you performed to identify the
pathogen a. Gram stain A gram stain of the organism is shown below:
State the Gram reaction (Gram-positive or Gram negative), the
shape, and the arrangement of the unknown organism you were given.
How has this information helped you to narrow down the identity of
the unknown organism? b. Oxidase test Give the result of the
oxidase test (positive or negative) you performed on the unknown
organism. Explain what the oxidase result tells you about the
properties of the organism. How has this test assisted you to
further narrow down the identity of the organism
home. She shows signs of mild dementia, and because of severe
arthritis and requiring a walker for ambulation, she sits in a
chair most of the day. She has not used any form of estrogen in at
least 30 years. She also has a history of 4-5 confirmed urinary
tract infections per year. This morning, her caregiver was unable
to coax the patient out of her bed. She seems confused and
disoriented. Vital signs reveal tachycardia in the 120’s,
respirations at 24/min, and a blood pressure of 78/49. She is
immediately taken to an ER for evaluation. A CT of the abdomen and
a chest x-ray appear normal. She has a WBC count of 2300/μL. She
continues to show marked confusion compared to her baseline and is
exhibiting anxiety. Urine and blood samples are taken and sent for
culture and sensitivity. Assume your unknown is from both a urine
sample and a blood sample.
1. Type of infectious disease Based on the description given,
and without performing any further tests, what general type of
infectious disease do you think this patient has? (Examples of
general descriptions of infectious disease include wound infection,
gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, pharyngitis, pneumonia,
septicemia, etc.) Keep in mind at this point you do not know the
identity of the specific organism responsible for the disease.
2. Patient’s history, predisposing factors, signs, and symptoms
After reading the case study, explain how relevant parts of the
patient’s history, predisposing factors, signs, and symptoms
contributed to your initial diagnosis of the patient’s infectious
disease. To support your diagnosis, search at least one medically
oriented reference article from a reliable site which will allow
you to make a connection between the known signs, symptoms, and
predisposing factors of the specific infectious disease and those
shared by the patient. Reliable sources you might consider are
Medscape (http://emedicine.medscape.com/infectious_diseases) and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at
http://www.cdc.gov/. Cite any sources you use in APA style
(https://www.bibme.org/apa). 1
3. Vocabulary list for medical terms used in the case study List
and define any medical terms used in your case study that describe
the patient’s signs and symptoms that the average person not
working in the medical field might not know.
4. Results of laboratory test given in the case study List each
lab test result provided in the case study above and explain how
the results of that test helps you to diagnose this patient’s
disease. Refer to Appendix C (Complete Blood Count), Appendix D
(Urinalysis), and Appendix F (SIRS and Sepsis) in your lab manual
as needed. Links to each of these appendices can also be found on
Blackboard in “Lab 12 Project Materials”.
5. Microbiological lab tests you performed to identify the
pathogen a. Gram stain A gram stain of the organism is shown below:
State the Gram reaction (Gram-positive or Gram negative), the
shape, and the arrangement of the unknown organism you were given.
How has this information helped you to narrow down the identity of
the unknown organism? b. Oxidase test Give the result of the
oxidase test (positive or negative) you performed on the unknown
organism. Explain what the oxidase result tells you about the
properties of the organism. How has this test assisted you to
further narrow down the identity of the organism