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USMLE · Question #618

A 35-year-old male comes to the physician due to watery diarrhea of two weeks' duration. He also has a low-grade fever, fatigue and weight loss of 5kg (11 lbs) over the past month. Laboratory findings

The correct answer is A. acid fast staining of the stool. Cryptosporidium is a protozoa commonly associated with chronic watery diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients with CD cell counts less than < 100 cells/mmֲ³.It causes+ milder diarrhea in immunocompetent hosts and can be treated with nitazoxanide and prevented by filtering the city water su

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Question

A 35-year-old male comes to the physician due to watery diarrhea of two weeks' duration. He also has a low-grade fever, fatigue and weight loss of 5kg (11 lbs) over the past month. Laboratory findings include a CDT cell count 70 cells/mmֲ3. To find the cause of his diarrhea, the next best step is a test involving +

Options

  • Aacid fast staining of the stool
  • Bcysts with multiple nuclei in the stool
  • Cperipheral blood smears
  • Dsilver staining of the stool
  • Etoxins in the stool

How the community answered

(34 responses)
  • A
    74% (25)
  • B
    3% (1)
  • C
    3% (1)
  • D
    15% (5)
  • E
    6% (2)

Explanation

Cryptosporidium is a protozoa commonly associated with chronic watery diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients with CD cell counts less than < 100 cells/mmֲ³.It causes+ milder diarrhea in immunocompetent hosts and can be treated with nitazoxanide and prevented by filtering the city water supplies. The diagnosis can be made by acid fast staining of a stool specimen which reveals the presence of acid-fast oocysts.

Topics

#Cryptosporidium#acid-fast staining#HIV opportunistic infections#CD4 count

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