Chapter 25: Mycoplasmas and Cell Wall–Defective Bacteria

Chapter 25: Mycoplasmas and Cell Wall–Defective Bacteria

Ureaplasma urealyticum is so named because

(A) It thrives in the upper urinary tract.

(B) It requires urea as a growth substrate.

(C) It is a frequent cause of symptomatic urinary bladder infections in young women.

(D) It causes chronic urinary tract infections in premature babies born to mothers with ureaplasmas as part of the genital flora.

An 18-year-old sexually active woman develops left lower quadrant pain and fever. On pelvic examination, she has tenderness in the left adnexa, and a mass suggestive of a uterine tube abscess is palpated. The patient is diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease. Which of the following bacteria is considered to be a common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease?

(A) Bacillus cereus

(B) Haemophilus influenzae

(C) Neisseria subflava

(D) Mycoplasma pneumoniae

(E) Chlamydia trachomatis

Which of the following is important in the pathogenesis of mycoplasmal infections?

(A) The peptidoglycan in the mycoplasmal cell wall

(B) The presence of lacto-N-neotetraose with a terminal galactosamine as the host cell receptor

(C) The structures and the interactive proteins that mediate adhesion to host cells

(D) The absence of cilia on the surface of the host cells

(E) Growth in an anatomic site where anaerobic organisms thrive

A 25-year-old woman is referred to the sexually transmitted diseases clinic because of contact with a male partner with gonorrhea. The woman has had 15 male sex partners since becoming sexually active. The likelihood that she also has genital Mycoplasma hominis infection is

(A) 1%

(B) 5%

(C) 15%

(D) 40%

(E) 90%

A 25-year-old medical student has contact with a patient who has pneumonia with fever and cough. Four days later, the medical student develops fever and cough, and chest radiographs show consolidation of the right lower lobe. Routine bacterial sputum culture results are negative. Pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae is considered. All of the following are methods to confirm the clinical suspicion except