Case of the Week 745
We have moved onto microfilariae found in SKIN SNIPS - what fun! There are only a couple to choose from. Can you tell which one this is? The microfilariae are approximately 200 micrometers long.Carazzi stainGiemsa stain: (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 16, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 747
We are in the home stretch for the microfilariae! Can you believe that we have just a few more to go? (Unless I decide to repeat some 😉) This week ' s case shows microfilariae that are approximately 200 micrometers long. The patient is a resident of Brazil and has moderate peripheral eosinophilia. He is otherwise asymptomatic. Carazzi stain (Knott ' s concentration):Giemsa stain (thick blood film): (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 9, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 744
We are in the home stretch for the microfilariae! Can you believe that we have just a few more to go? (Unless I decide to repeat some 😉) This week ' s case shows microfilariae that are approximately 200 micrometers long. The patient is a resident of Brazil and has moderate peripheral eosinophilia. He is otherwise asymptomatic. Carazzi stain (Knott ' s concentration):Giemsa stain (thick blood film): (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 9, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 744
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 744:Mansonella perstansmicrofilariae.As described by Florida Fan, " This is a rather small microfilaria, its width is only about half the diameter of the surrounding neutrophils. The Carrazi stain [a hematoxylin-based stain] did not show a sheath either. As such, we can definitely rule out all the sheathed and large microfilaria. We know that we are dealing withMansonellaspecies. The tail of thisMansonellais not curved , this allows us to eliminateMansonella streptocerca(strepto = curved, cerca = tail) [and also the source is not tissue]. The tail is also not pointed, this rules...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 7, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Parasite Case of the Week 743
Welcome back for more microfilariae from Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. The following microfilariae were seen in Giemsa-stained thick blood films from a man living on Alor Island, Indonesia. They measure approximately 305-315 micrometers in length. What is your identification? What is your primary differential? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 1, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 743
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 743: Brugia timorimicrofilariae. This was one of the tougher cases, but everyone did a great job narrowing the differential toBrugia. As noted by Florida Fan and Anonymous, we can immediately rule outMansonellaspecies based on the small size (length and diameter) of the microfilariae. Florida Fan also notes that the sheath is visible, confirming that we are dealing withLoa loa,Wuchereria bancroftior theBrugiagenus. He then details his method for coming to an exact diagnosis: " First the column of nuclei is so compact that we can rule outWuchereria bancrofti, also the n...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 31, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 742
This week ' s case features another beautiful example of microfilariae in blood. The patient is from sub-Saharan Africa and presents with chronic swelling of his left leg. The microfilariae measure approximately 270 µm in length. Carazzi stain (Knott ' s concentration):Giemsa Stain (thick blood film)What is your identification? What time should blood be collected for this examination? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 26, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 742
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 742:Wuchereria bancroftimicrofilariae.I really enjoyed reading the comments on this case. FloridaFan provided this excellent description of his approach to microfilariae identification: " First the width of the worm is about the same as that of the surrounding neutrophils. Second, its length is greater than 200 micrometers. Third, it has a sheath. Now we know we are dealing withLoa loa,Wuchereria, or theBrugiaones, not with any little peskyBrugia. The next consideration is that the column of nuclei is continuous, the terminal nuclei are not separate from the immediate anterior n...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 24, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Microplastics, Major Problem
By KIM BELLARD
It’s been almost four years since I first wrote about microplastics; long story short, they’re everywhere. In the ground, in the oceans (even at the very bottom), in the atmosphere. More to the point, they’re in the air you breathe and in the food you eat. They’re in you, and no one thinks that is a good thing. But we’re only starting to understand the harm they cause.
The Washington Post recently reported:
Scientists have found microplastics — or their tinier cousins, nanoplastics — embedded in the human placenta, in blood, in the heart and in the liver and bowels. In one re...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 19, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Tech Kim Bellard Microplastics Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 741
Wow, we are already on our 3rd filarial case! The following lovely case from Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, is another microfilaria found in blood. The patient is a middle aged male farmer from Central America who was noted to have mild eosinophilia on routine complete blood count. He is otherwise asymptomatic. The microfilariae measure approximately 175 micrometers in length. What is your identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 19, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 741
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 741:Mansonella ozzardiAs many of you noted, we can get to an identification of Mansonellasp. by the small size (length of just 175 micrometers, and the width less than the surrounding white blood cells). There is also no visible sheath, which is supportive of the diagnosis. So the next question is - whichMansonellais present?? As FloridaFan mentioned, the tip of the tail is pointed rather than blunt, which leads us away fromM. perstans. Also, the source is not skin snips, soM. streptocercais unlikely. That leavesM. ozzardiby default. To confirm this, we would look...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 17, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 740
Welcome to our next filarial case by Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. This week features the following lovely microfilariae seen in a Giemsa-stained thick blood film. They measure approximately 220 micrometers in length. Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 12, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 740
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 741:Brugia malayi Thanks to everyone who wrote in. This is one of my favorite microfilariae! This case had 2 classic features that facilitated the identification: the pink sheath and separation of the 2 terminal nuclei in the tail (see arrows below). As I noted in the case last week, the sheath isn ' t always seen. Therefore, the larger length and tail nuclei configuration can allow for the identification, even when the sheath is absent. (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 11, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
It's Finally Here - Filariasis Month with Idzi Potters! Case of the Week 739
Dear Readers,Welcome to Filariasis Month! We will actually have TWO months of filariae for you as there are so many to cover and so many beautiful cases by Idzi and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp.Idzi and I thought that we should start out with an ' easy ' one. The following objects were seen on a blood smear from a patient living in Gabon. What is your identification? Bonus question: what additional laboratory test is important for guiding treatment?Giemsa stained blood films:Carazzi stain, thin blood film: (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 4, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 739
Answer toParasite Case of the Week 739:Loa loamicrofilariaeThanks to everyone who wrote in with comments. We received a lot of different responses including some of the sheathed and unsheathed microfilariae. Therefore, this is a great time to review my approach to identifying microfilariae in blood specimens. You can also readthis articleI wrote with Blaine Mathison and Marc Couturier that provides a diagnostic algorithm for microfilariae in blood. In this algorithm, we recommend first measuring the length of the microfilariae. If they are small (<200 micrometers long), then it is likely to be one of theMansonella...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 2, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
