BOF: 6
A 76-year-old male has been
admitted to your ward following a stroke that has resulted in a left hemiplegia.
He is a mild diabetic and is hypertensive but both these conditions are well
controlled.
Seven days after admission the patient develops fever, tachycardia and
tachypnoea. On auscultation of his chest crepitations are heard over both lung
bases. Chest X-ray demonstrates bilateral basal pulmonary infiltrates.
Your decision regarding empirical antibiotic treatment for this condition will
be based on the assumption that the most likely causative organisms would be
a) Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
b) Methicillin-sensitive
Staphylococcus aureus
c) Pneumococcus
d) Gram-negative
organisms
e) Legionella
