If a Symptomatic Patient Presents to a Physician with an Infection,the

question 6

Multiple Choice

If a symptomatic patient presents to a physician with an infection,the physician will treat the patient with antibiotics.What role does the laboratory play in antibiotic selection if the physician has already treated the patient before receiving the culture results?

• A) The physician has only given the patient antibiotic samples, and they will only last for a couple days-until the culture results are ready and a proper prescription can be written.
• B) Physicians will only write antibiotic prescriptions for patients who are infected with a large number of bacteria, so the laboratory needs to tell the physician which antibiotic to use to treat the patient infected with small number of bacteria.
• C) The physician can treat the patient for bacterial infections, but if the patient has a fungal infection, the physician relies on the laboratory to tell her or him if the patient has a fungal infection.
• D) The physician expects the laboratory to affirm or reject the antibiotic choice made after the presumptive diagnosis.

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Definitions:

Marginal Cost

The expense associated with manufacturing an extra unit of a product or service.

Variable Cost

Variable cost pertains to a cost that changes in proportion with the level of activity or volume of production in a company.

Average Fixed Cost

The fixed costs of production divided by the quantity of output produced, which decreases as production increases.

Law Of Diminishing Returns

An economic principle stating that if one factor of production is increased while others remain constant, the overall returns will eventually decrease after a certain point.