Answer to Case 651
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 651:Strongyloidessp. rhabditiform larvae, as evidenced by the short buccal cavity and genital primordium. ALSO in this interesting case are unembryonated and fully embryonated eggs. Eggs are NOT usually shed in the stool inStrongyloides stercoralisinfection. So how do we explain these findings? Are theseStrongyloideseggs? Or something else? Is there a mixed infection here?Based on my own interpretation and your comments, I ' ve come up with the 5 possible scenarios to explain the findings in this case:Scenario 1. Both the larvae and eggs are those ofS. stercoralis.As mentioned ab...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 29, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 650
Greetings from New England! I ' m on vacation this week, so this will be a very short case - courtesy of Dr. Seema Jabbar. The following was " coughed up " by a patient. Most likely identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 24, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 650
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 650: MaleAscaris lumbricoidesAs nicely stated by Florida Fan, " Ah Ha, once more the male round worm finds its way out. Judging by the curved tail and the size, it ’s a male Ascaris lumbricoides. The female is longer and larger with a straight tail. Hopefully this is the only one in the patient, and though terrifying, it’s good riddance for the host. " A. lumbricoidesfemales can be up to 35 cm long (range of fully mature females is 20-35 cm), whereas males are slightly smaller at 15-30 cm long. Adults usually reside in the small intestine, but can occasionally migra...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 23, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
FDA Finally Grants Full Approval to Pfizer Vaccine
Jeffrey A. SingerAftercalls from members of the scientific, public health, and medical community —myself included —the Food and Drug Administration finally overcame bureaucratic inertia and granted full approval to the Pfizer‐BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine—ahead of its self‐imposed deadline of January 2022. This is good news. Pfizer will now market the vaccine under the brand nameComirnaty.Hundreds of millions of doses have been administered over the course of nearly a year and the safety profiles of these vaccines have been remarkably good. Now the FDA should move quickly on the other mRNA vaccin...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 23, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 649
This week ' s fun case was donated by Dr. Chris Hartley. The following object was seen on from material obtained by endobronchial, ultrasound-guided biopsy (Giemsa-based stain). How would you sign this case out? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 10, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Eliminating the Subminimum Wage Would Reduce Opportunities for America ’s Most Vulnerable
Ryan Bourne and Brad SubramaniamA Housebill,the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act, aims to eliminate the federal “subminimum wage”—the ability for employers to pay workers with significant disabilities below today’s hourly federal wage floor of $7.25 per hour.Current law allows employers to apply for a federal certificate from the Department of Labor (DoL) to hire subminimum wage workers. A worker having a disability is not sufficient to obtain one. The employer must actually go through a quite bureaucratic process of providing proof that the specific disability significantly impairs a worker ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 10, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Ryan Bourne, Brad Subramaniam Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 649
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 649: Non-parasitic insect, a springtail (Collembola). As Blaine mentioned, there is no definitive evidence that it is in the actual specimen. To me, it looks like it was squished on top of the slide - perhaps during cover-slipping, or possibly in the stain/other reagents. If this was my case, I wouldn ' t include it in the final report since that would just cause confusion for the ordering provider and patient. I ' d just admire it and show it to my trainees 😊. The iridescent colors are beautiful! (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 8, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 648
This week ' s case was donated by Dr. Seema B. The following objects were seen in a Papanicolaou-stained bronchoalveolar lavage specimen. No further history is available. They measure approximately 500 micrometers long. Most likely identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 2, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 648
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 648: Most likely Strongyloides stercoralisfilariform larva. Recommend examining the tail to look for a characteristic " notched " tail, (which is unfortunately not visible in the images in this case), and obtaining stool specimens for ova and parasite examinations andStrongyloides agar plate culture.As mentioned by several readers, there are other filariform larvae that should also be considered in this case, such as those ofAscaris lumbricoidesand the hookworm larvae. These larvae may rarely be seen during their initial lung migration stage in association with Loeffler...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 1, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 647
The following objects were seen on Giemsa-stained touch preps of a skin biopsy from a patient with a slowly enlarging ulcer. He had recently travelled to Costa Rica. Identification? What additional testing is indicated? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 27, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 647
Answer:Leishmaniaspecies amastigotes within a host phagocytic cell. Note the characteristic " dot-dash " morphology of the amastigotes, representing the nucleus and rod-shaped kinetoplast:Given the travel history to Costa Rica, additional testing is indicated to determine the species ofLeishmaniapresent. Some species in Latin America are capable of causing mucocutaneous leishmaniasis - a destructive form of disease that is difficult to treat. If the patient is infected with one of these species (e.g.,L braziliensis), then more aggressive treatment is warranted. Species identification is best accomplished by firs...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 25, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 646
This week ' s case was donated to us by Dr. Will Sears. He and his wife found the following worm in a puddle in Zion national park. This interesting worm is also occasionally submitted to the clinical parasitology laboratory. What is it? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 19, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 646
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 646: Gordiid/nematomorph, a.k.a. horsehair or Gordian worm (Nematomorpha: Gordiida). Not a human parasite. This is one of my favorite human parasite mimics. It is occasionally submitted to the human clinical parasitology laboratory - often after being found in the toilet or other body of water - and can be easily differentiated from true human parasitic worms by its long slender shape, said to resemble a horse hair. In their2012 publication, " Going Solo: Discovery of the First Parthenogenetic Gordiid (Nematomorpha: Gordiida), Hanelt et al. write: The Nematom...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 18, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 645
This week ' s case was donated by Seanne Buckwalter, and her golden doodle, Ruby. Ruby acquired this interloper from Seanne ' s back yard in southeastern Minnesota. Identification? And do you think the geographic location fits with the identification? Finally, what pathogens does this arthropod transmit? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 6, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 645
Answer to Parasite Case of the Week 645:Amblyomma americanumadult female tick.TheOracle nicely described what we are seeing here and its implications: " Given the position of the capitulum, we can immediately argue this is a hard tick (family Ixodidae). Even though we don ' t have a ventral picture, the number of legs, the quite long mouthparths and, more importantly, the white spot on the scutum allow us to diagnose an adult female ofAmblyomma americanum, even though Minnesota isn ' t the expected geographic location. This may possibly reflect the tremendous effects of climate change... TheOracle further c...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - July 4, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
