One of your patients has experienced the death of his nine-year old child. He shows you a pathology report from the postmortem examination. Aschoff body, consisting of an infiltration of lymphocytes and mononuclear cells, was present in the myocardium. Heart valves showed fibrinoid necrosis. He states that his son had a very high temperature and a rash for a few days. Later on some of his joints were briefly swollen, and then he died. While awaiting a definitive cause of death, which of the following questions, do you feel, would be most useful to determine the diagnosis?
1) Have you traveled to Latin America lately?
2) Did the child have a horrible sore throat a few weeks prior?
3) Was there a history of a viral infection?
4) Was your son allergic to anything, like wheat, for example?
5) Did the child suffer from bronchial asthma?