Bioterrorism

Chapter 12 Bioterrorism




Clinical Case Problem 1 A Disturbing News Report


You are driving to your office after making hospital rounds and hear a news flash on the radio that several people in your community have come down with a mysterious respiratory illness that has caused three seemingly healthy middle-aged people to die suddenly and unexpectedly. The report says authorities have reason to suspect an act of bioterrorism. When you arrive at the office, your telephone lines are being flooded with incoming calls. Your receptionist says, “What’s going on? Why is everyone panicked?”



Select the best answer to the following questions




1. What is your best source of reliable information about the situation?


a. local television news reports

b. local health department

c. police department

d. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Website

e. local newspaper

2. You receive the necessary information from the appropriate source. The next day you speak by telephone to a patient at work who gives you a plausible exposure history and relates symptoms that are of concern to you. Which of the following is your most appropriate next step for this patient?


a. send the patient home to await instructions

b. send the patient to the hospital emergency department

c. bring the patient into the office for an evaluation

d. make a home visit to the patient

e. none of the above

3. You make the correct choice in the next step for care for this patient. Whom should you immediately notify regarding the patient and your concerns?


a. the local health department

b. the hospital emergency department

c. the local police

d. no one because it would be a violation of the patient’s privacy

e. a, b, and c

4. The agents used in bioterrorism attacks are grouped into which of the following categories?


a. biologic and radiologic

b. biologic, radiologic, and chemical

c. inhaled, topical, and ingested

d. chemical and radiologic

e. none of the above

5. Which of the following characteristics distinguish smallpox (variola) eruptions from those of chickenpox (varicella)?


a. varicella eruptions are centripetal; variola eruptions are centrifugal

b. variola eruptions break out all at once; varicella eruptions come in crops

c. varicella eruptions are preceded by a highly febrile prodrome; variola eruptions are not

d. variola eruptions are uncomfortable; varicella eruptions are not

e. varicella eruptions progress slowly; variola eruptions progress to pustules in less than 12 hours

6. During which of the following times is the patient infected with variola not contagious?


a. the incubation period

b. the febrile prodrome

c. during the initial rash on the tongue and in the mouth

d. during the pustular eruptions

e. after scab formation

7. Which of the following is true regarding smallpox?


a. direct face-to-face contact is the most common means of smallpox spread

b. smallpox can be spread through direct contact with infected body fluids or contaminated objects such as bedding and clothing

c. smallpox can be spread through the air of enclosed buildings

d. humans are the only natural hosts of variola

e. all of the above

8. Which of the following is not true regarding plague?


a. a swollen, tender lymph gland is the typical sign of the most common form of human plague

b. signs of bubonic plague include a swollen gland with fever, chills, headache, and extreme exhaustion

c. symptoms appear 12 to 16 days after being infected

d. pneumonic plague causes high fever, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, and bloody sputum

e. 14% of all plague cases in the United States are fatal


Clinical Case Problem 2 Show and Tell (and Pray It Never Happens)


As part of a bioterrorism preparedness program, you are asked to lecture to a group of your colleagues at the local hospital. Here are some of the questions you are asked. Choose the correct response.



9. What is (are) the appropriate choice(s) of antibiotic prophylaxis for a possible inhalation anthrax exposure?


a. ciprofloxacin

b. doxycycline

c. trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

d. cephalosporins

e. a and b

10. Which of the following is (are) correct regarding inhalation anthrax?


a. symptoms usually appear within 7 days

b. the symptom complex includes fever, chills, sweats, fatigue, minimally productive cough, nausea or vomiting, and chest discomfort

c. chest radiograph initially may show mediastinal widening, paratracheal or hilar fullness, and pleural effusions or infiltrates

d. pleural effusions are a common complication

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Oct 1, 2016 | Posted by in GENERAL SURGERY | Comments Off on Bioterrorism

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