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CLINICAL DETAILS FOR ANTHRAX CASE 8 |
Last Updated 12 Nov 2002 |
Source: Roche KJ, Chang MW, Lazarus H. Cutaneous Anthrax Infection. New England J Med 345 (22): 1611, November 29, 2001. A seven-month-old male infant was
hospitalized with a two-day history of swelling of the left arm and a weeping
lesion
The white-cell count was 28,100 per
cubic millimeter. Incision and drainage of the lesion produced 10 ml of dark red
fluid. A coronal, T1-weighted sequence from a magnetic resonance imaging study (see
image below) demonstrated diffuse, severe edema of the subcutaneous
tissues extending from the shoulder to the hand. The working diagnosis was Loxosceles reclusa spider bite with superimposed cellulitis. The child was treated with ampicillin–sulbactam and clindamycin. He had been at his mother's office at a television network three days before admission, two weeks after the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. After anthrax exposure was reported at another television network, two punch biopsies of the lesion were performed. Polymerase chain reaction and immunostaining for Bacillus anthracis were positive. The patient was discharged in stable condition.
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