Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Sample Questions

A patient with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) who has been receiving voriconazole as prophylaxis for several weeks is found to have new pulmonary nodules during a neutropenic fever work-up. Which fungal organism is the most likely cause of this finding?

A patient presents to a clinic with perforated appendicitis. The local antibiogram states that Escherichia coli has a susceptibility of 75% to fluoroquinolones. Which antibiotic regimen is the best recommendation for this patient?

A 46-year-old patient was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis B coinfection. The patient's current CD4 count is 650 cells/mm³, and their HIV viral load is 78,000 copies/mL. The patient should receive therapy for:

A mother brings her 2-year-old child into the pediatric clinic with pink eye. The child is afebrile with an eye that is red, swollen, and watery. A number of other children in the daycare center are suffering from similar symptoms. What is the appropriate management of conjunctivitis for this child?

A 58-year-old woman presented 3 days ago from home with a history of shortness of breath, purulent sputum production, and chills. She was started on ampicillin / sulbactam 1.5 g intravenously every 6 hours and azithromycin 500 mg intravenously x 1 dose then 250 mg orally every 24 hours for community-acquired pneumonia. The patient has a serum creatinine of 0.9 mg/dL, a BUN of 14 mg/dL, and has been afebrile since admission.


Cultures came back as follows:

The patient is improving, and the medical team plans to discharge the patient this afternoon. Which outpatient regimen is most appropriate?

A 2-month-old patient is post-operative day 3 following cardiovascular surgery and chest tubes remain in place. After reviewing the patient's current medication list, the pharmacist notices that cefazolin is prescribed for surgical prophylaxis. The patient is afebrile, hemodynamically stable, and all cultures previously collected are negative to date. From a stewardship perspective, which is the most appropriate recommendation?

Which is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended primary end point for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections?

A study is designed to compare the incidence of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection during the 4-week period after treatment of the initial episode of Clostridioides difficile with either fidaxomicin or oral vancomycin. After completing therapy, 13% of fidaxomicin-treated patients developed recurrent infection versus 24% in patients treated with vancomycin. What is the number of patients needed to be treated with fidaxomicin to prevent one recurrence of Clostridioides difficile?

An infectious diseases pharmacist has discovered an error in which a compounded amphotericin product for continuous bladder irrigation was administered intravenously in the hospital. In addition to the institutional medication error committee, which external voluntary reporting system is best to notify?

An infectious diseases clinical pharmacist is evaluating the newly published hospital's antibiogram, which shows the following results:

Which listed bacteria should the pharmacist advise against reporting their susceptibility on the hospital's antibiogram?