Question

question 15
1 pts
a patient presents with a cough and fever. the np auscultates rales in both lungs that do not clear with cough. the patient reports having a headache and sore throat prior to the onset of coughing. a chest radiograph shows patchy, nonhomogeneous infiltrates. based on these findings, which organism is the most likely cause of this patients pneumonia?
o a virus
o mycoplasma
o s. pneumoniae
o tuberculosis
previous

Explanation:

• Virus: Viral pneumonia often presents with a prodrome (like headache, sore throat) before respiratory symptoms. Cough may be present, and auscultation can show rales. Chest radiographs in viral pneumonia can show patchy, nonhomogeneous infiltrates.
• Mycoplasma: Mycoplasma pneumonia (atypical pneumonia) also has a prodrome (headache, sore throat, malaise). Cough is common (often non - productive initially). Auscultation may show rales, and chest radiographs typically show patchy, nonhomogeneous infiltrates.
• S. pneumoniae: Typical pneumonia (caused by S. pneumoniae) usually has an acute onset (without a long prodrome of upper respiratory symptoms like headache and sore throat). Chest radiographs in typical pneumonia often show lobar or segmental consolidation rather than patchy, nonhomogeneous infiltrates. Rales may be present, but the overall clinical picture (without a prodrome) makes it less likely.
• Tuberculosis: Tuberculosis usually has more chronic symptoms (weight loss, night sweats, chronic cough). Chest radiographs in active tuberculosis may show upper lobe infiltrates, cavitation (in more advanced cases), not the immediate patchy, nonhomogeneous infiltrates described here without the classic TB constitutional symptoms.

Between virus and mycoplasma, both can cause similar radiological and some clinical features. However, mycoplasma is a very common cause of atypical pneumonia with the described radiological (patchy, nonhomogeneous infiltrates) and clinical (preceding upper respiratory symptoms like headache, sore throat) findings.

Answer:

Mycoplasma