Presenting problems in infectious diseases;
1. Fever:it is the most common and most constant presentation
A. Fever in tropical resident:Geography and exposureMosquito bite ……MalariaSand fly bite ……..LeishmaniasisInfected person contact……Hemorrhagic fever, hepatitis, HIVAnimal contact …..Brucellosis, anthraxFresh water swimming… Schistosomiasis
B. Fever in old age :
Oral temperature are unreliable Frequently associated with confusion Commonly caused by pneumonia, UTI, soft tissue infection & gateroenteritisC. Factitious fever:
mainly in female patients with medical or nursing backgroundThe patients looks well with bizarre temperature chart , absence of diurnal variation and changes in pulse rateAbsence f sweatingNormal ESR & CRPEvidence of self – injection or self – harm.D. Fever in neutropenic patient:
caused by gram +ve organisms most commonly. broad spectrum antibiotic should be started. The most common regimen is pipracillin + gentamicin i.v with the addition of antifungal if the fever not resolved within 48 hours2. SKIN RASHES
A. Patterns of rash associated with infection1. Macular: Measeles, Rubella, Typhoid fever, Secondary Syphilis. 2. Haemorrhagic: Meningococcal infection, haemrrhaghaemrrhagic fever, Leptospirosis, Septicaemia with DIC 3. Vesicular: Chickenpox, Poxvirus, herpes simplex, Shingles 4. Erythematous: Scarlet fever, Toxic shock syndrome, human erythrovirus 19, Drug rash.
5. Urticarial; Schistosomiasis, Strongyloidosis6. Nodular: Erythema nodosum ( primary TB, Leprosy, streptococcal infection, mycoplasma)7. Chancres (( ulcerating nodules )): Primary Syphilis, anthrax, Trypanosomiasis
B. Onset of rash
Really Sick People Must Take No Exercise3. SPLENOMEGALY ( TROPICAL )
Mild: Malaria, toxoplasmosis, Hepatitis, HIV, Typhoid, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, …..Moderate: SBE, portal hypertension due to schistosomiasis.Massive: Visceral Leishmaniasis, tropical splenomegaly syndrome.4. EOSINOPHILIA
It is associated with parasite infections and any patients with eosinophil count more than 400 cell/ml. should be investigated for possible parasitic infection which include:Strongyloidosis, Hook warm, Ascariasis, Schistosomiasis, Cysticercosis, hydatid disease,……5. Bacteraemia & Septicaemia:
Bacteraemia is the presence of living organism in the blood and it can occur in healthy people without symptoms but when it cause a disease it is called as septicaemia.The organism may originate from any area of the bodySepticaemia can be complicated by metastatic septic lesions in organs or tissues e.g heart valves, liver, brain, bone, joint,….Circulatory failure ( septic shock syndrome ) is the most dangerous complication of septicaemia with possible organ failure (( heart failure, renal failure, bone marrow failure, respiratory failure,….)Blood cultures are the most important Treatment: Antibiotics according to the result of blood culture and sensitivity.
6. Pyrexia Of Unknown Origin (( PUO )):
It is consistently elevated body temperature more than 37.8 c persisting for more than 2 weeks with no diagnosis after initial investigations.Aetiology of PUO:
A. Infection: 1. sepsis, abscesses 2. Tuberculosis 3. Endocarditis 4. Enteric fever 5. Brucellosis 6. HIV 7. Toxoplasmosis 8. fungal infectionB. Malignancies
1. Lymphoma 2. Hodgkin s disease 3. Myeloma 4. Hypernephroma 5. LeukemiaC. Connective tissue disorders:
1. Vasculitis 2. SLE 3. Polyarteritis nodosa 4. Still s diseaseD. Miscellaneous:
1. inflammatory bowel disease 2. drug fever 3. sarcoidosis 4. FMF 5. Atrial myxoma E. No diagnosis or resolves spontaneouslyInvestigations & Management
A. Re take historyB. Repeat the examinationC. Review results of investigations and repeat if indicatedD. consider farther investigations; serological, CT, MRI, tissue biopsies,…E. Consider therapeutic trial e.g antimalaria
7. Acute Diarrhoea
It is the predominant symptom of acute infective gasteroenteritisInfectious causes of acute diarrhea:A. Toxin mediated: Bacillus cereus, Clostridial enterotoxin, staphylococcal enterotoxin.B. infective food poisoning: caused by Rota virus, Shigella, cholera, E.Coli, Salmonella,….C. Protozoal; Giardiasis, Amoebiasis,…D. Systemic illness: sepsis, pneumonia, Malaria, Meningococcal sepsis.8. Chronic Diarrhoea:
It is defined as Diarrhoea persisting for more than 14 days and its infectious causes include: a. Giardiasis b. Strongyloidiasis c. HIV enteropathy d. Tropical sprue e. Enteropathic E. Coliusually the diarrhoea with pale bulky stools,abdominal symptoms with distension and flatulence, nutritional deficiencies and general ill health.