A 76-year old patient has a fever, abdominal cramping and frequent diarrhea. He

Question

A 76-year old patient has a fever, abdominal cramping and frequent diarrhea. He reports that he has 6-7 episodes of diarrhea per day. This has been occurring for 5 days. Three weeks before the problem began, he had undergone knee replacement surgery, followed by rehabilitation in an orthopedic outpatient facility. During his physical therapy, his surgical incision became red and inflamed, and he was placed on a regimen of antibiotic therapy (Ampicillin). His incision infection improved and he was allowed to have home physical therapy with extended oral antibiotic therapy. A stool specimen was sent to the laboratory and yielded a positive test for an A-B exotoxin.

Explanation / Answer

This old person is infected from the disease known as diphtheria. As, the person had knee replacement surgery before 1 week, the bacteria responsible for causing cornybacterium diphtheria is spread from one person to another. It means this disease is communicable.  

Also, this bacteria release exotoxin A-B means this toxin is released outside the cell. Also, the person is having fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain. These all are the symptoms of the disease diphtheria.

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