A 14-year-old boy presents to the emergency department by ambulance complaining of significant chest pain. He reports that the pain started suddenly one hour ago and is exacerbated by taking deep breaths. He describes it as a diffuse ache throughout is chest and rates it an 8/10 in severity. He has a history of sickle cell disease and describes a long history of transient joint pains, usually in his fingers. He is unsure of his immunization status. Vital signs are temperature 38.6°C (101.5°F), blood pressure 140/90 mm Hg, heart rate 120 beats/minutes, and respirations 24/minute. Physical examination reveals conjunctival pallor, tachycardia with normal heart sounds, and wheezes in the posterior right chest. A chest x-ray reveals consolidation in the right lower lobe.
This patient has a higher susceptibility to infection with which of the following pathogens?
- A) Acid-fast rods
- B) Gram-negative, comma-shaped bacilli
- C) Gram-negative diplococci
- D) Gram-positive, catalase-positive cocci
- E) Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacilli
Author(s)
Ardian Latifi
Editor(s)
Dr. Ted O'Connell
Last updated
Sep 08, 2022
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