A 6-Day-Old Boy Is Brought to the Emergency Department for Inability

question 308

Multiple Choice

A 6-day-old boy is brought to the emergency department for inability to feed for 12 hours.  His parents report that the infant has been unable to open his mouth and has held his hands clenched all day.  The infant was delivered at home by the grandmother.  The mother had no access to prenatal care but says that the pregnancy was uncomplicated.  The mother immigrated to the United States 6 years ago.  Physical examination shows increased muscle tone throughout, arching of the back, and dorsiflexed feet.  The umbilical cord is covered with a clump of soil.  The mother says that it is customary in her village where she grew up to cover the umbilical stump with dung to speed cord separation.  In addition to hygienic umbilical cord care, which of the following is the most effective strategy to prevent this condition?

• A)Early postpartum breastfeeding
• B)Prophylactic antibiotics
• C)Prophylactic immune globulin
• D)Vaccination of infants at birth
• E)Vaccination of pregnant women

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Definitions:

Allocative Efficiency

A state of the market where resources are allocated in a way that maximizes the net benefit to society, ensuring that every good or service is produced up to the point where the last unit provides a benefit equal to its cost of production.

Productive Efficiency

A situation where the economy or a production process is unable to produce more of one good without reducing the production of another good, using available resources in the best way.

Normal Goods

Goods for which demand increases as consumer income rises, and decreases as consumer income falls, reflecting a direct relationship between income and demand.

Competitive Market

A market structure characterized by a large number of buyers and sellers, homogenous products, and no single buyer or seller can influence the market price.