Claire is a healthy 19 year-old college freshman enjoying her first few weeks of being on a college campus. Sheâs made lots of new friends, has been participating in many of the on-campus outdoor social activities, and is getting used to a hectic class schedule. For the last couple of days, sheâs been feeling more tired than usual, and sheâs had a sore throat. Her sore throat has been worsening, and she also has a low-grade fever and a headache that has been getting worse throughout the day. Although Claire thinks that her symptoms are due to exhaustion, Claireâs roommate urges her to go the student health center just to make sure that itâs nothing too major. At the student health center, Claire is examined by Dr. Peterson. She takes a routine medical history and does some basic assessment of Claireâs condition including listening to her heart and lungs, checking her ears and eyes (for light responsiveness), looking at her throat, and feeling the lymph nodes in Claireâs neck. Claire expects that Dr. Peterson is going to tell her to go home, drink plenty of liquids, and get lots of rest and that sheâll be back to normal in a couple of days. Instead, Claire is surprised when Dr. Peterson tells her that there have been a couple of cases of meningitis reported in students living in Claireâs dorm and she would like to do further tests for meningitis. Claire informs Dr. Peterson that she has received the vaccine for meningitis. Although Dr. Peterson tells Claire that this is a good thing, she informs Claire that they need to conduct further tests to confirm the causative agent and proceed with treatment.
Claire is a healthy 19 year-old college freshman enjoying her first few weeks of being on a college campus. Sheâs made lots of new friends, has been participating in many of the on-campus outdoor social activities, and is getting used to a hectic class schedule. For the last couple of days, sheâs been feeling more tired than usual, and sheâs had a sore throat. Her sore throat has been worsening, and she also has a low-grade fever and a headache that has been getting worse throughout the day. Although Claire thinks that her symptoms are due to exhaustion, Claireâs roommate urges her to go the student health center just to make sure that itâs nothing too major. At the student health center, Claire is examined by Dr. Peterson. She takes a routine medical history and does some basic assessment of Claireâs condition including listening to her heart and lungs, checking her ears and eyes (for light responsiveness), looking at her throat, and feeling the lymph nodes in Claireâs neck. Claire expects that Dr. Peterson is going to tell her to go home, drink plenty of liquids, and get lots of rest and that sheâll be back to normal in a couple of days. Instead, Claire is surprised when Dr. Peterson tells her that there have been a couple of cases of meningitis reported in students living in Claireâs dorm and she would like to do further tests for meningitis. Claire informs Dr. Peterson that she has received the vaccine for meningitis. Although Dr. Peterson tells Claire that this is a good thing, she informs Claire that they need to conduct further tests to confirm the causative agent and proceed with treatment.