Discussion and case study

DISCUSSION

Viruses invade the cells of the body - causing damage and disease in the process. Viruses are intracellular parasites which cannot reproduce without using the host cell. They lack all the components to reproduce themselves and so they much "borrow" the host cell machinery in order to reproduce. This is different than intracellular bacteria which have all the necessary machinery to reproduce, even though they must do so while inside the host cell.

For this conference I want you to address the following: (Remember to update your subject line as always)

Based on what you have learned about bacteria, viruses and components of living cells, do you consider viruses alive? Fully explain and support your answer with a discussion

Provide an example of a virus which causes disease. (Do not duplicate examples).

Describe the disease caused including where the virus resides/colonizes in the body (ie: in what cell type)?

How does its preferred "residence" in the body influence the course and spread of the disease? (ie: How does this virus affect the body specifically. Hint: Do not provide a list of symptoms here.)

Project: Case Study Scenario

A mother brings her 5 year old daughter Katie into the emergency room with fever and severe diarrhea. The doctors begin taking Katie’s history from her mother. Katie is in kindergarten and has a 2 year old sister in day care. Katie’s kindergarten class went on a field trip 3 days ago to a petting zoo. The children were allowed to pet and feed the animals and were told to wash their hands before having a picnic lunch. Katie was very excited to eat her favorite lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that day. To the mother’s knowledge, none of the other kids in Katie’s class are ill. The doctor sent samples of Katie’s bloody stool to the lab for analysis.

Lab results showed some blood in her stool and an unusually high number of gram-negative rods in the sample.

Based on the information presented in the case study, answer the following questions in your paper (see guidelines for additional info):

1. What microorganism do you believe is to blame for this illness (be specific)? Provide background information on this organism, history, morphology, virulence factors, toxins, etc...

2. What information from the patient’s symptoms contributed to your decision? Did this information allow you to rule out any other possible culprits? What information from the patient’s history and/or lab samples that contributed to your decision? Support your answers with factual evidence and logical reasoning.

3. What is the epidemiology of this disease? Identify risk factors for this disease and describe the disease course/outcome in humans.

4. What steps can be taken to treat the illness? How and why are the treatments effective (or ineffective)? Are there any concerns or other complications of this disease?

Guidelines:

Recognize the use of the scientific method to weigh evidence, make decisions, and solve problems

Apply knowledge of cellular and molecular processes to understand infectious disease mechanisms

Synthesize knowledge of microbial pathogenesis and disease prevention methods and communicate this knowledge to the community

A scientific case study is a short summary of an event or personal experience that ends in a "mystery"—in this case, one that you will solve using your own research and the clues provided within the case study. For this project, you will evaluate a patient-centered case study that explores a mysterious bacterial or viral illness. The case study will include a set of questions to guide your analysis.

Your paper should include the following:

Case Study General Format:

Each of the 4 provided questions should be answered individually (200-300 words per question answer). You should incorporate your ideas into well written paragraphs using complete sentences, a logical flow of information and in-text citations.

Reference citations should be provided at the end of the document formatted in the APA style.

Your Case study project should include the following:

Include your name, date and the case study title ("A", "B", "C", etc...) at the top of your paper.

Number the question answers 1-4 in your document. DO NOT provide the original questions.

DO NOT copy the original case study into your response.

Answer each of the 4 question sections in 200-300 words.

Use in text citations for fact-based information

Provide APA formatted full reference citations at the end of the document.

Remember to use italics as needed for bacterial genus/species designations.

References:

You must have a minimum of two outside sources to support your evaluation.

These can consist of any of the following: books, textbooks, scholarly journal articles, and websites run by reputable government organizations (such as the CDC or NIH).

You may have additional references as well. All of your references should be no more than six years old (published in 2005 or later).

Citations:

You should include BOTH in-text citations and a final reference page formatted in APA style. Please see http://www..edu/library/citationguides.shtml for additional information on how to format citations and references in APA style.

All work must be original work written by you and your group members. Your paper may be checked for plagiarism, so please make a concerted effort to use and cite your sources appropriately. Any submitted work that is not your own, or incidences of plagiarism, will be reported to administration.