You've decided to work on the Peace Corps for the first two years after graduating from nursing school. Your assignment is in an agricultural area in tropical America. In this town, it is common place to use human feces as fertilizers for vegetable gardens. A child was brought in suffering from abdominal pains and dehydration due to severe diarrhea. Stool sample was fluid with blood and flecks of mucus.
-What is the diagnosis?
-Describe the laboratory test that should be conducted immediately?
-How did the child get infected?
-An older brother who always share everything with this child was exposed to the agent as well but is not showing any of the child's symptoms. Briefly explain why?
-Name a possible complication(s) (e.g secondary infections) of the disease?
Answer:
After someone ingests a sufficient quantity of E. coli O157:H7, the bacteria travels through the stomach and small intestine, and then attaches itself to the inside surface of the large intestine and causes inflammation of the intestinal wall. This inflammatory reaction is caused by toxins secreted by the bacteria, and is believed to be the cause of hemorrhagic colitis...
Diagnosis:
Infection with E. coli O157:H7 is usually confirmed by detecting the bacterium in the stool of the infected individual. Most hospital labs and physicians know to test for this particular bacterium, especially if the potentially infected individual has bloody diarrhea. Still, it remains a good idea to specifically request that a stool specimen be tested with Sorbitol MacConkey (SMAC) Agar for the presence of E. coli O157:H7.
In addition, E. coli O157:H7 is now commonly “fingerprinted”. When a sample is taken from either a piece of meat or poultry that is contaminated with a dangerous form of bacteria, such as E. coli O157:H7, listeria, or campylobacter, it can be cultured to obtain and identify the bacterial isolate...
The older brother may not have consumed the same infected food and young children and the elderly are generally hit harder.
boring.
I'm going with e. coli.
Any of a number of E. Coli (Escherichia Coli) bacteria that cause diarrhea. Transmission of the disease can occur from person to person but is more frequent through contact with food or water contaminated with animal or human feces. The condition is common in undeveloped countries. (Source: WD Writers)
Does the child have a fever?
No one is qualified to make a diagnosis without seeing the patient but here is my best guess(s).
Colitis is thought to be related to abnormal immune response in the GI tract, possibly associated with food or bacteria such as Escherichia coli.
Some of the symptoms of Colitis include:
Diarrhea
Abdominal pain
Mucus in stool
Blood in stool
Avoid eating raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, alcohol, dairy, caffeine and chocolate.
Do not treat with aspirin or ibuprofen as this will irate the colon.
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