Case of the Week 675
This week ' s case was donated by Dr. Paul Valenstein, and it is a beautiful example of an uncommon finding. It is an eyelid biopsy from a 6-year-old African child.Diagnosis? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 6, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 675
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 675: Coenurosis, a tapeworm infection with the larval form of coenurus-forming Taeniaspecies, such asT. multiceps(the most commonly implicated species), T. serialis, T. brauni,andT. glomeratus. Some of you noted the resemblance of this tissue infection with cysticercosis. That makes sense since human cysticercosis is due to the related cestode,Taenia solium.The primary difference is the presence of a single protoscolex in cysticercosis, vs. multiple protoscoleces in coenurosis.Here is my approach to the diagnosis:We can first tell this is a cestode by the presence of the cal...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 5, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 674
This week ' s case is courtesy of Dr. Charlie Huskins, one of our pediatric ID physicians. The parents of his patient found the following bug in their home and were concerned that it might be a disease vector. They are concerned that it might have bitten their child, as they have identified a potential ' bite ' mark.Of note, the family lives in the midwestern United States and has no history of recent travel. What is the general identification of this bug? Is there any concern for disease transmission? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 1, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 674
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 674: Not a human ectoparasite or disease vector; this is one of the Coreidae or " leaf-footed " bugs, most likely the western conifer seed bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis). The nickname comes from the leaf-like expansions on the legs of some species, usually on the hind tibiae. Leptolossus does not bite or sting, but can give off a pungent odor when disturbed. It feeds on sap and has long piercing mouthparts. The importance of this case is that the specimen is a very convincing mimic of the triatomine vector ofTrypanosoma cruzi - commonly called the " ki...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 1, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Humanoid Robot Measures Blood Pressure with a Touch
Researchers at Simon Fraser University in Canada unveiled a humanoid robot that can measure blood pressure by touching a patient’s chest. The robot uses sensors on its fingertips to perform the measurements. Inspired by blood-sucking leeches, the dry electrode sensors infer blood pressure by combining electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) readings, although happily, they don’t suck blood. The Canadian team hopes that the technology could help in automating routine medical procedures, and also provide a measure of safety for patients and healthcare staff by reducing in-person interactions during the COVID...
Source: Medgadget - February 23, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Geriatrics Medicine Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 673
Welcome to Case of the Week 673, for this interesting day of two ' s (2/22/22 or 22/2/22, depending on your preferred format). To recognized this day, I ' ve chosen a parasite to go with our theme of two ' s - histologic section of two parasites in lung tissue. You can clickHERE to go to the digital image and view these parasites at higher magnification. Our non-pathologists may find the eggs seen on the digital slide to be quite helpful for making the diagnosis. What is your identification of these parasites? Are there any other associated " two ' s " that you can think of? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 22, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 673
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 673:Paragonimusspecies; two adult flukes within lung tissue.You can tell that these are flukes by their loose stroma, thin eosinophilic tegument (outer layer) with prominent spines, and suckers. As noted by Florida Fan, the characteristic eggs (each with a shouldered operculum), along with the location, are helpful in identifying this as aParagonimusspecies. Excellent job! (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 21, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Will Microbes Finally Force Modernization of the American Health Care System?
Mike Magee MD
Science has a way of punishing humans for their arrogance.
In 1996, Dr. Michael Osterholm found himself rather lonely and isolated in medical research circles. This was the adrenaline-infused decade of blockbuster pharmaceuticals focused squarely on chronic debilitating diseases of aging.
And yet, there was Osterholm, in Congressional testimony delivering this message: “I am here to bring you the sobering and unfortunate news that our ability to detect and monitor infectious disease threats to health in this country is in serious jeopardy…For 12 of the States or territories, there is no one w...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 14, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Public Health Healthcare system infectious diseases microbes Mike Magee Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 14th 2022
In conclusion, this first examination of the effects of age and the ageing process on the small intestinal microbiome demonstrates that the duodenal microbiome changes with increasing age, with significant decreases in duodenal microbial diversity due to increased prevalence of phylum Proteobacteria, particularly coliforms and anaerobic taxa. Given the key roles of small intestinal microbes in nutrient absorption and host metabolism, these changes may be clinically relevant for human health during the ageing process.
Naked Mole Rats Exhibit Minimal Cardiac Aging
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/02/nake...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 13, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Continued Exploration of Age-Related Differences in the Human Gut Microbiome
In conclusion, this first examination of the effects of age and the ageing process on the small intestinal microbiome demonstrates that the duodenal microbiome changes with increasing age, with significant decreases in duodenal microbial diversity due to increased prevalence of phylum Proteobacteria, particularly coliforms and anaerobic taxa. Given the key roles of small intestinal microbes in nutrient absorption and host metabolism, these changes may be clinically relevant for human health during the ageing process. (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - February 8, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 672
This week ' s case was kindly donated by one of our Cytopathology fellows, Dr. Anna-Lee Clarke. The following structures were seen in Papanicolaou-stained cervical smear. The elongated object measures ~7 mm long, and the orange-red objects are ~60 micrometers long.Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 8, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 672
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 672:Enterobius vermicularis, disembodied uterus containing characteristic planoconvex (or " D-shaped " ) eggs. Note the beautiful deep pink-orange color. I have seenE. vermiculariseggs a few times on cervical Papanicolaou-stained smears, and they always looked like this.I provided the size of the eggs for those of you not used to looking at Pap smears. However, you can also estimate the size of the eggs based on the size of the background mature squamous epithelial cells, as they are about the same size. As mentioned by Florida Fan, " There must be a wandering pin worm, hopefully...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 7, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Ecology and Technical Advance
By MIKE MAGEE
It is fair to say that the vast majority of Americans know more about viruses today than they did 24 months ago. The death and destruction in the wake of COVID-19 and its progeny have been a powerful motivator. Fear and worry tend to focus one’s attention.
Our collective learnings are evolving. We have already seen historic comparisons to other epidemics. Just search “The 10 worst epidemics” for confirmation. But one critical area which has been skimmed over, and only delicately probed (if at all) is the ecology or “the ecological point of view.”
For those interested, let me recommend “Na...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 4, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy covid19 Ecology Mike Magee Viruses Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 671
This week ' s case is by Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp. As always, he has an interesting challenge for us! the following were seen in a wet preparation of the stool concentrate. Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 1, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 671
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 671: InfertileAscaris lumbricoideseggs, many decorticated.Decorticated eggs can pose a diagnostic challenge since they resemble eggs of other helminths such asAncylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus,Trichostrongylusspecies,Fasciola hepatica,andFasciolopsis buski,. However, they can usually be differentiated by their thicker wall, size, lack of operculum (seen with the fasciolids), and other characteristic features. (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - January 31, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
