Case of the Week 500!!!
Welcome to my 500th Parasite Case of the Week - a special celebration of our parasitology community.I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful readers. You keep me on my toes, send me amazing cases, and teach me a lot. I had asked for submissions of your parasite-related artwork and received some amazing entries. I put the names of all contributors into a hat and randomly selected the following 3 names:Sheldon CampbellPiotr KochanMelanie RiblettCongratulations! I will reach out to you later to give you your prizes :)So now without further ado, here are all of the fabulous parasite creations of our talented group:Kate Grann...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 2, 2018 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 446
Answer: not a parasite; most consistent with mushroom spores.In this case, the spores were noted in the stool of an individual who had consumed morel mushroom spores, and therefore we can be more specific about the identification.Mushroom spores are a convincing mimic of parasite eggs. They can be differentiated by a few features, however:1. Their size is smaller thanEnterobius vermiculariseggs - one of their closest mimics.2. Although in the size range for some of the smaller trematode eggs (e.g.Clonorchis, Metagonimus), they lack an operculum.Again, special thanks to George who donated these images and reminded me that i...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 14, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 305
Answer: Clonorchis sinensis, the Chinese liver fluke. As mentioned by Florida Fan and Tomáš Macháček, we can see several characteristic features of C. sinensis, including the oral sucker, esophagus, twin ceca, ova-filled uterus, lateral vitellaria, seminal receptacle and classic eggs with shouldered operculum (arrow heads). I've highlighted several of these features below:The testes and other internal structures allow Clonorchis to be differentiated from the related fluke Opsithorchis. Clonorchiasis is usually acquired through ingestion of undercooked or raw fish and long stan...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 26, 2014 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 270
Answer: Clonorchis sinensis /Opisthorchis sp. eggsThe characteristic features of these distinctive eggs are their small size (19-35 micrometers in length), 'urn' shape, shouldered operculum and abopercular knob:The eggs of Opisthorchis sp. are slightly smaller than those of Clonorchis sinensis, but there is significant overlap and it is not usually possible to differentiate the two. (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 18, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs
