Which of the following organisms is an intracellular parasite

# Which of the following organisms is an intracellular parasite?
A. Nocardia asteroides
B. Coccidioides immitis
C. Histoplasma capsulatum
D. Aspergillus flavus
E. Cryptococcus neoformans

The correct answer is C. Histoplasma capsulatum.

Histoplasma capsulatum is a type of fungi
which is the main cause of histoplasmosis
infection. This is an intracelular parasite of
macrophages that commonly causes
fungal respiratory infection in the US.

Acute arthritis of the great (big) toe is a diagnostic sign

# Acute arthritis of the great (big) toe is a diagnostic sign of which of the following diseases?
A. Osteoarthritis
B. Osteomyelitis
C. Gout
D. Osteoporosis
E. Rheumatoid arthritis

The correct answer is C. Gout. 

The acute arthritis of the big toe is a

pathognomonic sign of Podagra or Gout.

What distinguishes Gout from others is that,

it usually occurs in one of the joints in the

body, however, about 50% are said to occur

in the big toe. This disease is also referred

to as "disease of the kings" or "the rich

man's disease".

Chemotherapy for Leukemia

# A patient receiving chemotherapy for leukemia is highly susceptible to develop which oral infection?
A. Candidiasis
B. Actinomycosis
C Histoplasmosis
D. Coccidioidomycosis
E. Blastomycosis

The correct answer is A. Candidiasis. 

Immunocompromised patients are more susceptible to candidiasis, the fungal infection caused by Candida albicans. A patient with leukemia has lower than normal functioning leukocytes. This, coupled with chemotherapy which aims to

reduce the number of abnormal leukocytees, leaves the patient in a very

immunosuppressed state. 

Other examples of cases where a patient

would be susceptible to candidiasis include

patients taking antibiotics for a extended

periods or patients infected with HIV.

Bacterial Descriptor conflicts with another one

# Which one of these bacterial descriptors conflict with the other five?
A. Gram positive
B. Proteobacteria
C. Gram negative
E. Thin peptidoglycan 

D. Pink in a Gram stain 

The correct answer is A. Gram positive. 

Proteobacteria, a pink Gram result, an outer

membrane, and thin peptidoglycan are all

characteristic of Gram NEGATIVE bacteria

such as E. coli.

Note: This question has conflicting

answers regarding gram positive and gram

negative characteristics.