What type of laboratory test(s) would NOT be conducted if you suspect a patient has contracted plague
Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry would not be conducted. The first thing that would happen if plague is suspected is immediate isolation. Contact with an infected patient needs to be minimized and the hospital needs to be equipped to handle that patient.
What type of laboratory test(s) would NOT be conducted if you suspect a patient has contracted plague
Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry would not be conducted. The first thing that would happen if plague is suspected is immediate isolation. Contact with an infected patient needs to be minimized and the hospital needs to be equipped to handle that patient.
When the plague happened there were no labs or testing. They didn't know or understand the transmission of disease or anything about virus and disease.
If a patient is suspected of having contracted the plague, a routine blood culture may not be conducted initially, as specific tests for Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, are more critical. Instead, diagnostic tests such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, serology for specific antibodies, or direct staining and culture of specimens from lymph nodes or respiratory secretions would be prioritized. Rapid identification is essential due to the serious nature of the disease and the need for timely treatment.
If you suspect a patient has contracted plague, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) would not typically be conducted, as it is not a standard test for diagnosing infectious diseases like plague. Instead, more relevant tests would include culture for Yersinia pestis, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for genetic material, and Gram or Wright's staining to identify bacterial presence. GC-MS is primarily used for analyzing chemical compounds and is not suited for detecting bacterial infections.
If a patient is suspected of having contracted plague, tests specific to the causative agent, Yersinia pestis, would be prioritized, such as blood cultures or sputum cultures for bacterial identification. Routine laboratory tests, like standard viral panels or tests for unrelated bacterial infections, would not be appropriate or necessary in this case. Additionally, tests that do not provide relevant information for diagnosing or managing plague, such as allergy tests, would likely be omitted.
A patient with plague should not undergo a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) unless absolutely necessary. This is because the procedure could introduce bacteria into the central nervous system, leading to severe complications, especially if the patient has a risk of septicemia or if the infection has spread. Additionally, a lumbar puncture may not provide useful information in the context of plague, where clinical diagnosis and other laboratory tests are typically sufficient.
With contagious infections, it is impossible to trace to "Patient Zero", the very first patient to get the infection.
The bubonic plague.
The poisoning of French Troops that had contracted Bubonic Plague in Egypt was evil.
Bubonic. CBRNE-December 2011