How to work through this deck

Infectious diseases is a broad subject, so a useful deck should not try to replace your course notes or local guidelines. It should help you retrieve high-value facts quickly, then show you which ones need more work. Use the cards below as a focused starting set covering common clinical decisions and safety points.

For each card, read the question and answer it aloud or in writing before looking at the answer. Then reveal the answer and grade your recall honestly: if you missed a threshold, dose, duration or important qualification, mark it for another review. If you recalled the fact correctly but slowly, note that too. A confident guess is not the same as reliable recall.

In MySummaries, a focused infectious diseases deck can be built from your own revision board. Here is a set to work through now:

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Cards — Infectious Diseases — core clinical facts16 due

What is the Sepsis-3 clinical definition of sepsis?

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection; operationally, an acute increase in SOFA score of at least 2 points.

All 16 cards
What is the Sepsis-3 clinical definition of sepsis?Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection; operationally, an acute increase in SOFA score of at least 2 points.
What defines septic shock in Sepsis-3?Sepsis requiring vasopressors to maintain a mean arterial pressure of at least 65 mmHg, with serum lactate above 2 mmol/L despite adequate volume resuscitation.
When should blood cultures be taken in suspected sepsis?Before antimicrobials if this can be done without substantially delaying treatment.
Which CSF glucose ratio supports bacterial meningitis?A CSF-to-serum glucose ratio below 0.4 supports bacterial meningitis; interpret it alongside the cell count, protein, clinical picture and prior treatment.
What is the conventional initial regimen for drug-susceptible pulmonary TB?Two months of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol, followed by four months of isoniazid and rifampicin (2HRZE/4HR), subject to susceptibility and local guidance.
Is latent tuberculosis infection contagious?No. Latent TB infection does not cause infectious pulmonary disease and is not transmitted to other people.
What infection-control precautions are used for suspected infectious pulmonary TB?Airborne precautions, including appropriate respiratory protection and an airborne infection isolation room where available; follow local infection-control policy.
Who should receive antiretroviral therapy for HIV?WHO recommends ART for all people living with HIV, regardless of CD4 count; timing and regimen should be guided by the clinical situation and current local guidance.
What is the latest usual time to start HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)?Start as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours and no later than 72 hours after exposure; a usual course is 28 days, following current local guidance.
At what CD4 count is Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) prophylaxis commonly indicated in HIV?A CD4 count below 100 cells/µL is a strong indication; some guidelines also recommend prophylaxis at 100–200 cells/µL when HIV RNA is detectable. Check the applicable guideline.
How long is treatment for HIV-associated Pneumocystis pneumonia usually given?21 days; trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole is the usual first-line treatment unless contraindicated or not tolerated.
When are adjunctive corticosteroids indicated in HIV-associated Pneumocystis pneumonia?When room-air PaO₂ is below 70 mmHg or the alveolar–arterial oxygen gradient is at least 35 mmHg; use the recommended regimen for the applicable guideline.
Which stool should generally be tested for suspected C. difficile infection?Unformed stool from a patient with compatible symptoms; testing formed stool can detect colonisation rather than explain illness.
How should a suspected rabies exposure wound be washed?Wash and flush it as soon as possible with soap and water for about 15 minutes, then arrange urgent exposure assessment and indicated post-exposure prophylaxis.
Which common medicines should be avoided in dengue because of bleeding risk?Avoid aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen; use paracetamol for fever if appropriate and follow local guidance.
What is the standard treatment for early syphilis in a non-allergic adult?Benzathine benzylpenicillin (benzathine penicillin G) 2.4 million units intramuscularly once for primary, secondary or early latent syphilis; confirm stage and follow local guidance.
Sixteen recall cards cover core definitions, treatment facts and safety decisions in infectious diseases.

That is a MySummaries deck, filled with infectious diseases material. Yours is written from your own notes. Start free

The deck moves from acute infection and diagnostic interpretation to longer-term infections and exposure management. That order is deliberate: it asks you to retrieve definitions and immediate decisions first, then practise treatment facts. Some details—especially drug regimens, prophylaxis thresholds and infection-control procedures—depend on resistance patterns, patient factors and national guidance. Learn the core fact, but check your course materials and current local recommendations before applying it to a patient.

Turn missed recall into targeted revision

Do not treat every missed card as the same kind of error. A wrong number may need a short repeat drill; confusion between two diagnoses may need a comparison table; uncertainty about a treatment regimen may mean you need to revisit the source guideline. Record the cause of the error as well as the answer. That gives your next revision session a clear job.

For example, if you confuse the Sepsis-3 shock criteria, retrieve both parts together: vasopressors needed to maintain a mean arterial pressure of at least 65 mmHg, and lactate above 2 mmol/L despite adequate volume resuscitation. If you miss the CSF glucose ratio, practise interpreting it alongside the rest of the CSF profile rather than learning it as a stand-alone diagnostic test.

Cards are best for facts with a clear answer. They are less suited to the full management of a patient with fever, shock, immunosuppression or a complex travel history. Use your notes to practise those longer decisions: initial assessment, likely sources, investigations, immediate treatment, isolation or notification needs, and reassessment. Local antimicrobial policies and public health requirements matter, so verify them rather than relying on a flashcard alone.

The core these cards come from

A compact checklist helps you see whether the deck covers the essentials, and where a missed card fits into the bigger subject. This is not a complete infectious diseases syllabus; add topics from your own course, placement and exam objectives.

The deck’s core checklist looks like this:

Must not miss coreInfectious Diseases — core clinical facts
Sepsis-3: infection-associated organ dysfunction; an acute SOFA increase of at least 2 points is the operational threshold.
Septic shock: vasopressors to maintain MAP ≥65 mmHg and lactate >2 mmol/L despite adequate volume resuscitation.
Drug-susceptible pulmonary TB: conventional 2HRZE/4HR regimen; confirm susceptibility, patient factors and local guidance.
HIV-associated PJP: treat for 21 days; adjunctive corticosteroids when room-air PaO₂ <70 mmHg or A–a gradient ≥35 mmHg.
Four high-yield checks summarise the thresholds and regimens behind the deck.

The checklist is intentionally short. Use it to decide what to expand on your own board: for instance, add local sepsis pathways, TB resistance and monitoring, or HIV opportunistic-infection guidance from your course resources. Keep a card only when it tests one retrievable fact; split a card if answering it requires a long list or several separate decisions.

Revisit the point that cost you marks

When you miss a fact twice, make the next review question specific enough to test the gap. Do not simply copy a paragraph from a guideline onto a card. Ask for the distinction, threshold or action you failed to recall, and check the answer against a reliable source.

A remediation prompt could look like this:

Remediation tray

You lost this point twice: what two haemodynamic and biochemical features, in addition to sepsis, define septic shock in Sepsis-3?

Add cardDismiss

A useful answer must include both criteria, not just “vasopressor-dependent shock”: vasopressors to maintain MAP of at least 65 mmHg and lactate above 2 mmol/L despite adequate volume resuscitation. If you can retrieve both accurately on later reviews, move on; if not, revisit the definition and practise it again.

How MySummaries helps

Build an infectious diseases board from your PDFs, slides or photographed notes, then generate cards from its sections and review them with spaced repetition. Add your course’s local guidance to the board so the cards reflect the material you are expected to learn. Open MySummaries.