A mother comes to the clinic with her 5-year-old child. The mother is concerned that the child has a fever of 100.3° F. The nurse knows that

A. Concerned only with destroying RBCs

Only the spleen is partly involved in RBC destruction-this doesn’t apply to all listed organs.

B. Confined to the thoracic cavity

These organs are located in different parts of the body-e.g., spleen in the abdomen, lymph nodes throughout the body.

C. Lymphoid organs

These are all components of the lymphatic/immune system, involved in immune surveillance and lymphocyte production.

D. Concerned only with phagocytosis

While some have phagocytic activity (e.g., macrophages in lymph nodes), their functions go far beyond phagocytosis (e.g., immune cell activation).

A. Digestive system through contaminated feces:

This is the port of exit for diseases spread by the fecal-oral route (e.g., cholera, hepatitis A).

B. Respiratory system by coughing or sneezing:

Droplet infections (e.g., flu, COVID-19, common cold) are primarily spread through respiratory secretions expelled via coughing or sneezing.

C. Central nervous system by contaminated cerebral spinal fluid:

While CSF can carry infections (e.g., meningitis), it is not a common port of exit.

D. Urinary system by contaminated urine:

Urinary tract infections may be transmitted this way, but not typically through droplets.