Microbiology 9th Edition by Laura Black, Jacquelyn Black

Exercise 21

The following is a true story, though the name has been changed. It is an example of why it is critically important to identify or ganisms that are causing disease: Dr. Overland had just retired from teaching; she was a diabetic and went to the hospital to have a diagnostic procedure done, called an angiogram. This involves injecting dye in the circulatory system to analyze the function of the heart. A few days after the procedure Dr. Over land began to be feverish. She went to her doctor, who put her in the hospital and began treating her with an antibiotic to kill bacteria. Blood samples were collected to begin identification of the organism that was causing the disease process. The organism turned out not to be a bacterium but a yeastlike fungus, Candida albicans. Dr. Overland died before an antimicrobial could be used to kill the C. albicans. Why did it take the hospital so long to identify the pathogen?