Carlos Estrada

I. What every physician needs to know. Parvovirus B19 causes erythema infectiosum (fifth or “slapped check” disease in children), transient aplastic crisis in patients with diseases reducing the life-span of a normal red blood cells, persistent anemia in immunocompromised patients, and a symmetric polyarthritis in adults that can be acute or chronic. When the polyarthritis…

I. What every physician needs to know. Histoplasma capsulatum (H. capsulatum), the etiologic organism for histoplasmosis, infects humans via the respiratory tract. After the organism reaches the alveolar space, it replicates in macrophages and spreads in the reticuloendothelial system. As an intracellular pathogen, the organism can remain viable for years; reactivation of the infection can…

Histoplasmosis I. What every physician needs to know. Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by Histoplasma capsulatum (H. capsulatum) and has a broad clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic infection to fulminant, potentially fatal disease. A dimorphic fungus, H. capsulatum, is found in soil with highest concentrations in bird and bat droppings; thus activities such as…

I. Problem/Condition. Viral skin infections can produce localized or disseminated lesions. The diagnosis, which is based on typical patterns of presentation, occasionally requires laboratory testing. Patients can present with oropharyngeal complaints, or systemic symptoms (e.g., malaise, fever), followed by a maculopapular or vesicular rash. Vesicular rashes contain replicating viral organisms and are infectious. Outbreaks of…