Viral Infections USMLE Step 1 Practice Question
A 20-year-old woman presents to urgent care with a 5-day history of severe pharyngitis, malaise, and fever. She reports that her roommate was ill with similar symptoms 3 weeks ago. On examination, she has a temperature of 38.8°C, posterior cervical lymphadenopathy, palatal petechiae, and mild splenomegaly. Laboratory testing reveals a white blood cell count of 12,500/μL with 45% lymphocytes (many appearing atypical), and a heterophile antibody test is positive. The clinical syndrome presents because the causative virus preferentially infects and causes proliferation of which of the following cell types?
Answer choices
- AB lymphocytesCorrect answer
- BHepatocytes
- CKupffer cells
- DCytotoxic T lymphocytes
- ENeutrophils
- FNatural killer cells
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