Question

Sylvester Brown is 5' 11" (180.3 cm) tall he weighs 152 Lb (68.9 kg) and his current BMI is 17.4. On arrival at the hospital he appears weak. He says he realizes he should eat, but he does not have the energy or the appetite, and he has developed pain in his mouth. He is complaining of a headache that does not seem to go away. He is known to be living with HIV which was diagnosed twelve years ago. He has been taking anti-retroviral (ART) medication but, he admits he has not been consistent in taking them. A year ago, he was treated for tuberculosis and recovered. Brain MRI shows a brain lesion suggestive of an abscess. Describe in details the stage of HIV infection that Sylvester will belong to, indicating what in the case prompted you to choose that stage. What organism is most likely to be causing the abscess? What is the reservoir for that organism and in what class of microorganism does it belong to?

Answer 1

Ans :

STAGES OF HIV INFECTION:

There are four stages of HIV and as with all illnesses, how it progresses, how long it takes and the affect it has on the individual depends on a number of factors for example, general health, lifestyle , diet etc.

STAGE 1 - INFECTION :

HIV quickly replicates in the body after infection. Some people develop short lived flu like symptoms for e.g. headache, fever, sore throat and rash within days to weeks after infection. During this time the immune system reacts to the virus by developing antibodies - this referred to as ' sero - conversion'.

STAGE 2 - SYMPTOMATIC :

As the name suggests, this stage of HIV infection does not cause outward signs or symptoms. A person may look and feel well but HIV is continuing to weaken their immune system. This stage may last several years ( an average of 8-10 years ) and without a HIV test many people do not know they are infected.

STAGE 3 - SYMPTOMATIC :

Over time the immune system becomes damaged and weakened by HIV and symptoms devlelop . Initially they can be mild but they do worsen symptoms include fatigue, weight loss , mouth ulcers, thrush and severe diarrhoea. The symptoms are caused by the emergence of opportunistic infections; they are referred to as opportunistic infections because they take advantage of a person's weakened immune system. Some examples of opportunistic infections are PCP, toxoplasmosis, TB and kaposi sarcoma.

STAGE 4 - AIDS / progression of HIV to AIDS :

There is no single test for AIDS, doctors will look at a variety of symptoms including the CD 4 count , the viral load and the presence of opportunistic infections in order to make an AIDS diagnosis.

Although HIV disease progression is described in stages , it is not inevitable that a person will will go from stage 1 infection to stage 4 AIDS. There is treatment available taht can prevent a person developing AIDS and deals with the symptoms of HIV infection.

According to signs and symptoms seen in patient Sylvester , He is in 4th stage. He shows all the signs and symptoms of AIDS , like opportunistic infections e.g. TB occurred one year ago , mouth pain and ulcer, weakness , loss of appetite etc.

2. What organisms is most likely to causing abscess?

Ans :

Staphylococcus aureus,E.coil, p. Aeruginosa , and Streptococcus pyrogens are the most common types of bacteria that causes skin abscess in the following areas of the body ; the head and neck, parties , armpit, trunk, .

3. What is reservoir for the organisms and in what class of microorganisms belongs too?

Ans :

A reservoir is usually a living host of a certain species , such as an animal or a plant , inside of which a pathogen survives , often ( though not always ) without causing disease for the reservoir itself.

The microorganisms belongs in class of prokaryotes.

Unlike cells if animals and other eukaryotes, bacteria cells do not contain a nucleus and rarely harbour membrane bound organelles.