Ethics & Law · patient case question
Which bacterium causes erysipelas?
Patient case: Behaviour, communication and quitting
demo: Adult patient in a health-promotion consultation
chief: Attends for a check-up and mentions he would like to stop smoking.
history: Smokes 15 cigarettes a day and has done so for twenty years. He has tried to quit twice before without support.
meds: None.
findings: Generalised staining and halitosis. No mucosal lesions on careful examination.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Group A beta-haemolytic Streptococcus
- A. Clostridium perfringens causes gas gangrene, a necrotising infection of a completely different character.
- B. Correct. Erysipelas is a superficial dermal cellulitis with prominent lymphatic involvement caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, a group A beta-haemolytic organism. It produces a sharply demarcated, raised, fiery red plaque, most often on the face or lower leg, and responds to penicillin.
- C. Actinomyces israelii causes cervicofacial actinomycosis with a woody induration and draining sinuses containing sulphur granules.
- D. Staphylococcus aureus causes deeper cellulitis, abscesses and impetigo, and its borders are typically indistinct rather than sharply demarcated.