No sorry this is not the cause of Helen's present condition.
This organism is a dimorphic fungus (yeast cell at 37oC and
a mycelial form at room temp). Patients traveling to the southeastern parts
of the United States are likely to get this infection. Helen has no history
of travel. KOH preparations of sputum samples would reveal broad-based
budding yeast
cells (the image is not a gram stain). Try
again.