OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has meningococcal infection? What are the typical findings for this disease? Neisseria meningitidis (NMn), the cause of meningococcal infection, colonizes the upper respiratory tract of approximately 10% of the population; the prevalence of carriage increases with age throughout childhood and adolescence. The most…
OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has a parvovirus infection? What are the typical findings for this disease? Parvoviruses are single-stranded DNA viruses that commonly infect a variety of animals, including humans. The four types of parvoviruses known to infect humans include adeno-associated viruses, parvovirus B19, Parv4 and 5…
OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has mumps? What are the typical findings for this disease? Mumps is an acute viral infection usually seen in childhood. It is characterized typically by unilateral or bilateral swelling of the salivary glands (usually parotid) proceeded for 1-2 days by headache and loss…
OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has Diphtheria? What are the typical findings for this disease? Diphtheria is an infection caused by toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, an anaerobic, pleomorphic Gram positive bacillus. Infection usually involves the throat, but the nasal mucosa and/or larynx may be affected. Initial symptoms…
