A normally healthy 8-year-old boy from Florida is visiting friends on a farm in Iowa during the month of July. He presents on July 28 with a fever, cough, and lower respiratory symptoms (no upper respiratory tract symptoms). He has been ill for 4 days. His chest sounds are consistent with pneumonia, so a chest radiograph is obtained. The radiograph shows small, patchy infiltrates with hilar adenopathy. His blood smear shows small, nondescript yeast forms inside monocytic cells. What is the most likely causative agent?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Histoplasma and Blastomyces are both endemic in Iowa (central United States bordering the Mississippi River), but only Histoplasma fits the description of a facultative intracellular parasite circulating in the reticuloendothelial system.

A Normally Healthy 8-Year-Old Boy from Florida Is Visiting Friends