Some diseases, including malaria, are caused by tiny parasites. More-severe internal organ fungal infections, especially in people with weakened immune systems, may require intravenous antifungal medications. Some fungal infections, such as those affecting the lungs or the mucous membranes, can be treated with an oral antifungal.
#Dr coblyn infectious disease skin#
Topical antifungal medications can be used to treat skin or nail infections caused by fungi. Antiviralsĭrugs have been developed to treat some, but not all, viruses. This makes these bacteria much more difficult to treat. The overuse of antibiotics has resulted in several types of bacteria developing resistance to one or more varieties of antibiotics. For example, pneumonia can be caused by a bacterium, a virus, a fungus or a parasite. But sometimes it's difficult to tell which type of germ is at work. Treatment can be targeted more precisely if your doctor knows what type of bacteria you're infected with.Īntibiotics are usually reserved for bacterial infections, because these types of drugs have no effect on illnesses caused by viruses. coli.Ĭertain types of bacteria are especially susceptible to particular classes of antibiotics. Bacteria also are put together in groups of similar types, such as streptococcus or E. AntibioticsĪntibiotics are grouped into "families" of similar types. Knowing what type of germ is causing your illness makes it easier for your doctor to choose appropriate treatment. For example, a biopsy of lung tissue can be checked for a variety of fungi that can cause a type of pneumonia. Biopsiesĭuring a biopsy, a tiny sample of tissue is taken from an internal organ for testing. Imaging procedures - such as X-rays, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging - can help pinpoint diagnoses and rule out other conditions that may be causing symptoms.
You'll usually be asked to lie on your side with your knees pulled up toward your chest. This procedure obtains a sample of the cerebrospinal fluid through a needle carefully inserted between the bones of the lower spine. You may be instructed to collect a stool sample so a lab can check the sample for parasites and other organisms. Samples from the throat, or other moist areas of the body, may be obtained with a sterile swab. To avoid potential contamination of the sample, you may be instructed to cleanse your genital area with an antiseptic pad and to collect the urine midstream. This painless test requires you to urinate into a container. A technician obtains a sample of blood by inserting a needle into a vein, usually in the arm. In the context of our patient population, the T-SPOT.TB assay is likely to be most useful in evaluation of patients with a positive TST, since these patients have a higher pretest probability of having LTBI. It is equally likely that the low prevalence of LTBI in this low-risk population led to an increase in the false-positive rate despite the high sensitivity and specificity of the T-SPOT.TB assay. Patients with a positive T-SPOT.TB test did not have typical risk factors for LTBI based on clinical evaluation.ĬONCLUSION: The lack of concordance between the TST and the T-SPOT.TB assay may indicate that the immunoassay is more sensitive, particularly in a patient population taking immunosuppressive medications. Among these 179 subjects, 2 had a positive TST and 10 had a positive T-SPOT.TB test. All subjects had a strong response to the T-SPOT.TB test positive control, and there were no indeterminate results. RESULTS: Both tests were performed on 179 subjects, who had no history of a positive TST. A medical history was obtained using a questionnaire, whole blood was drawn for the T-SPOT.TB assay, and tuberculin skin testing (TST) was performed. Most patients were US-born women with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: A total of 200 patients seen in the Arthritis Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital were enrolled for study. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the T-SPOT.TB assay to identify latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in patients with rheumatic disease receiving immunosuppressive medication including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists.
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