IPLab:Lab 9:Diphtheria

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Clinical Summary[edit]

This 4-year-old black female had an upper respiratory infection and a sore throat with increasing difficulty in breathing. Membranous exudate over one tonsil led to a working diagnosis of diphtheria, and the child was admitted. On the day of her admission, the child developed signs of respiratory tract obstruction and a tracheotomy was performed. However, the procedure was unable to establish a patent airway and the child died.

At autopsy, a dense grayish pink membrane extended from both tonsils to the mid-trachea. The lungs were edematous and showed signs of pneumonia.

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In alcoholics, aspiration pneumonia is common--bacteria enter the lung via aspiration of gastric contents.