Infectious diseases Flashcards
(275 cards)
How to manage red man syndrome with vancomycin?
Stop the vancomycin infusion until symptoms resolve and then re start at a slower rate
What is a rapid plasma reagin test?
useful to monitor disease activity and reinfection. It is written as the number of times a sample containing syphilis needs to be diluted before it becomes undetectable. Therefore, 1 in 2 means it needs to be diluted twice, whereas 1 in 32 means it needs to be diluted 32 times (meaning disease activity is higher in the latter). A rise by 4-fold or more in a previously infected patient either indicates no treatment response or reinfection.
What stains with india ink?
Cryptococcus neoformans
Management of cerebral toxoplasmosis?
pyrimethamine plus sulphadiazine for at least 6 weeks
Gram positive rods mneumonic
ABCD L
Actinomyces
Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)
Clostridium
Diphtheria: Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Listeria monocytogenes
Gram negative rods?
Escherichia coli
Haemophilus influenzae
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Salmonella sp.
Shigella sp.
Campylobacter jejuni
Management of pneumocytitis jiroveci pneumonia?
co-trimoxazole
IV pentamidine in severe cases
aerosolized pentamidine is an alternative treatment for Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia but is less effective with a risk of pneumothorax
steroids if hypoxic (if pO2 < 9.3kPa then steroids reduce risk of respiratory failure by 50% and death by a third)
First line for syphilis?
intramuscular benzathine penicillin
What is the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction
fever, rash, tachycardia after the first dose of antibiotic
Standard for diagnosis and screening of HIV?
combination tests (HIV p24 antigen and HIV antibody) are now standard for the diagnosis and screening of HIV
if the combined test is positive it should be repeated to confirm the diagnosis
some centres may also test the viral load (HIV RNA levels) if HIV is suspected at the same time
First line for gonorrhoea?
IM ceftriazone
Monitoring for terbinafine?
LFTs checked before commencing terbinafine and 4-6 weeks into treatment
What is trichomonas vaginalis?
highly motile, flagellated protozoan parasite. Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
What is giardiasis?
flagellate protozoan Giardia lamblia. It is spread by the faeco-oral route.
Complications of mycoplasm pneumoniae?
cold agglutins (IgM): may cause an haemolytic anaemia, thrombocytopenia
erythema multiforme, erythema nodosum
meningoencephalitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome and other immune-mediated neurological diseases
bullous myringitis: painful vesicles on the tympanic membrane
pericarditis/myocarditis
gastrointestinal: hepatitis, pancreatitis
renal: acute glomerulonephritis
What is kaposi’s sarcoma caused by?
Human herpes virus 8
Live attenuated vaccines
BCG
MMR
oral polio
yellow fever
oral typhoid
Features of giardiasis?
often asymptomatic
non-bloody diarrhoea- steatorrhoea
bloating, abdominal pain
lethargy
flatulence
weight loss
malabsorption and lactose intolerance can occur
adverse effects of metronisazole?
disulfiram-like reaction with alcohol
increases the anticoagulant effect of warfarin
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)
widespread demyelination
due to infection of oligodendrocytes by JC virus (a polyoma DNA virus)
What pneumonia cause is associated with cold sores?
Streptococcus pneumoniae
IV antibiotic in 3 months-50 YO with meningococcal meningitis?
cefotaxime (or ceftriaxone)
If over 50 first abx in meningococcal meningitis?
cefotaxime (or ceftriaxone) + amoxicillin (or ampicillin) for adults
What is HIV seroconversion?
symptomatic in 60-80% of patients and typically presents as a glandular fever type illness. Increased symptomatic severity is associated with poorer long term prognosis. It typically occurs 3-12 weeks after infection