Differential Diagnosis Coursework Example

Differential Diagnosis of Presented Symptoms Name Institution Differential Diagnosis of Presented Symptoms Introduction List of Differentials A differential diagnosis refers to a list of illness that could be present from the identified or availed symptoms. The list of likelihood or diseases probability is placed in order after interviewing and examining the patient. First, life-threatening conditions are studied and once they are off the table, the differentials are ranked using tests and probability, then treated accordingly (Buttaro, Trybulski, Polgar & Sandberg-Cook, 2017). Below is a list of differential diagnosis that can be obtained from the case study of the middle-aged female. • Pediatric Diphtheria • Retropharyngeal Abscess • Peritonsillar Abscess Pediatric Diphtheria Diphtheria is a toxin-mediated illness known to be caused by mild Nontoxigenic strains or Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Usually, diphtheria organisms attach themselves to the surface layers of skin lesions causing an inflammatory reaction (Mohammadi, Miller & Ashurst, 2016). The bacteria cause local tissue necrosis once the protein synthesis gets inhibited. The foci of this infection are on tonsils and pharynx, where nose and larynx mark the common sites. Fever is very high as a symptom as well as a headache, though they are not prominent features. Typically, diphtheria symptoms begin with a sore throat. Retropharyngeal Abscess Retropharyngeal Abscess is a bacterial infectious disease that affects areas of the throat. Though this illness is rare, it comes on quickly and can affect both children and adults, leading to serious complications including death. Accompanied symptoms include experienced pain when swallowing, stiff neck, fever and sometimes noise when breathing. In other cases, there is throat pain, drooling and coughs. Typically, the disease occurs after a type of a trauma to an area, and this includes injuries, dental work or other medical proce...