human
the reason the goverment and every expert is saying dont use mask is to avoid having shortage for the professionals. Can you imagine if they actually recommended using masks? we already have a shortage. thats what I believe anyways..
gpt
Please remember we can't answer every question, especially those about whether you might or not have a case yourself.For general questions that we might be able to answer and that aren't explained in government and international websites, ask here. If you're asking a lot about your or loved ones' individual risk, look at the resources from reputable sources, like the sites linked in the original post here. We don't know better than the information provided, and we can't provide individual consultation to everyone.
Can the cause of a respiratory infection be determined by listening to a patient's lungs?Patient is 33F, 5'3", 105 lbs, has a history of psoriatic arthritis and gerd and takes humira, methotrexate and pantoprazole.Patient has had wheezing and chest congestion for three weeks. PA listened to patient's lungs and said the diffuse rather than focal crackling/wheezing sound ruled out bacterial and fungal infections. Can these infections truly be ruled out based on sound? No tests were performed.
No. Classical "typical" pneumonia tends to be localized to one part of the lung. "Atypical" bacterial pneumonias can be diffuse. I would be very concerned about a patient with an autoimmune condition on multiple immune suppressing medications (especially the humira). Three weeks is a long time to infectious symptoms -- typically if something hasn't gone away in 10-14 days we look into it further. I strongly suggest you seek out another opinion, probably from an MD or DO who will likely have more training and experience than a PA.