Pneumocystis pneumonia

Patient, a 71-year-old, retired truck driver, presented to Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH) due to an exacerbation of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) of 2 days presenting as dyspnea on the background of 5-year history of COPD with 1 or 2 exacerbations a year, previous peripheral venous insufficiency with ulcers, previous solitary pulmonary nodule and an ex-smoker with 100 pack-year history. Initial examination presented with respiratory rate of 22 breaths/minute, oxygen saturation of…

Some people resort to smoking to reduce their stress, but what they don’t know is what kind of health issues will come up while they are smoking. Smoking has a rich history behind it and how it came about in 1612 when the settlers came to Jamestown. Native American’s, however, did smoke tobacco but only for religious and medical purposes. Nowadays, smoking is an everyday thing for some people. Eventually this will lead to either dangerous medical issues or even simple as asthma, but their lungs…

Introduction/Review of Literature Introduction Hospital acquired infections (HAI), also known as healthcare associated infections or nosocomial infections, are infections transmitted to patients while in a hospital or other healthcare facility. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), there were approximately 722,000 patients suffering from hospital acquired infections in the United States in 2011 of whom 75,000 suffered fatalities. Accordingly, hospital acquired…

Introduction: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a part of the family Enterobacteriaceae. This genus is a gram negative and it has no flagella, which meant that this bacterium is not motile. However, it can move with the use of the current that is produced by the water. This bacterium has the ability to cause destructive change in a man or animals lungs if aspirated. In addition, this is also one of the most contacted pathogen in a Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) or nosocomial infection. In this…

What is Pneumonia? Pneumonia is a type of inflammation of the air sacs in the lungs. It can affect one or both of the lungs. Alveoli that are in the lungs may fill with some type of fluid, which can make it difficult to breathe. The most common causes of pneumonia are by viruses, bacteria or fungi. The most common bacteria type that causes pneumonia is Streptococcus Pneumonia. How is it Diagnosed? Pneumonia is diagnosed while taking different kinds of tests. Some of these tests are: Physical…

An infectious disease is pathogenic microorganisms, like bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi that cause diseases by spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another. One infectious disease is Clostridium difficile, a nasty bacterium that affects the digestive system, specifically the colon. A disease that can start of pretty mild and lead to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Clostridium difficile is a bacterial infection in the digestive system which has the same symptoms…

The resonatory system includes the nasal cavity and soft palate and portions of the anatomically defined respiratory and digestive systems. (Seikel, King, & Drumright, 2010). One disorder that may affect a person’s ability to use the resonatory system to produce sufficient speech is velopharyngeal insufficiency, or VPI. This is a disorder which results in the improper closure of the velopharyngeal sphincter (soft palate muscle in the mouth) during speech, allowing air to escape through the nose…

It test how well you inhale and exhale, and it also test how much air your lungs take in with each breath. To perform this test, an instrument called a spirometer is used which measures the volume of air moving in and out of the lungs during pulmonary ventilation. When given this test a person can be standing up or sitting down but whichever one that person must remain in that position throughout the whole test. The person cannot change positions because that will mess of the results from the…

Mechanical ventilation is required in up to 50% of all critically ill patients during their hospital course. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is defined as pneumonia that develops 48 hours after a patient has been placed on mechanical ventilation. It is most commonly caused by bacterial infections including fungi and viral epidemics and it is usually found in the sterile lower respiratory tract. Early diagnosis and the appropriate use of antibiotics will help to avoid the emergence of…

Background Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted helminth that penetrates the skin as a method of infection. This parasitic worm gains nutrients and shelter from its host, while causing malnourishment or harm to the diseased. The infective filariform penetrates the skin from infected soil and migrates to the lungs through the blood stream. In order to mature the filariform larvae are coughed up and swallowed to develop into adults in the intestines. The diagnostic stage is the…