The patient’s urine culture was collected using a clean-catch method. After inoculation and incubation, several organisms were identified in amounts that were reported as normal microbial flora. Which of the following statements by the student nurse indicates proper understanding of the findings?

Neisseria meningitidis is a Gram-negative bacterial pathogen that can cause meningitis. What component of the pathogen is likely contributing to the high fever? 

An RN in a long-term care facility oversees the care of 15 patients. He observes precautions to control and prevent the spread of infection.

You instruct the family that the transfer of genetic material can involve contact between two bacterial cells. DNA can pass from one cell to the other through a pilus during which type of horizontal gene transfer?

The mother stated that her daughter felt fine yesterday and went to school. What type of carrier did her daughter have the potential to be yesterday at school? 

A 20-year-old female college student is admitted to the intensive care unit from the emergency department. The patient lives in a dormitory at her university and her roommate brought her to the hospital because “she is not acting like herself.” The patient was previously healthy to the roommate’s knowledge, involved in campus activities, and an excellent student. The RN collects the patient’s history of present illness from her roommate. About two weeks prior, the patient began feeling ill. She had nasal congestion and was diagnosed with a sinus infection at the student health clinic. However, the patient reportedly decided against taking the prescribed antibiotics because she did not believe they were necessary. She developed high fevers and one day ago began complaining of a stiff neck. That morning, she was more lethargic, making nonsensical statements, and had a fever of 105°F. Her roommate was frightened by her change in behavior and drove her to the hospital.

E. coli can readily form biofilms. How do biofilms impact its survival and pathogenicity? 

Which immune cell type is primarily responsible for producing antibodies in response to the chickenpox virus? 

A 47-year-old male and father of five works as a high school English teacher. He recently read in the community newspaper that local sewage is treated and repurposed to the community as drinking water. His senior English class is concerned about the quality of drinking water in the city and they want to petition the state senate to pass a bill barring the practice. He comes to the local health department asking for information.

A 78-year-old male presents to the emergency department reporting a 2-day history of difficulty breathing, cough, and chest pain. Upon triage assessment, the patient is found to have a fever, rapid rate of breathing, low oxygen saturation, and crackles upon auscultation of the lungs. A chest X-ray reveals consolidation in the right upper lung field. The patient is diagnosed with pneumonia, initiated on oxygen therapy, and admitted for observation and treatment.