Case of the Week 652
Happy Labor Day weekend to my American readers! It ' s the first Monday of the month, and time for our monthly case from Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. The following structures were seen in Ziehl-Neelsen stained sputum specimen for acid fast bacilli, thus prompting additional examination of direct wet mounts. The patient had recently from Sicily. Ziehl-Neelsen stained sputum specimen:Direct wet mount:Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 6, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 652
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 652:Strongyloides stercoralisL3 (filariform) larvae.As nicely described by Luis, " We can see in photo 2 an esophagus almost as long as the intestine, the tail is sharp and has notches (photo 3). "The notches are classic and can be seen in both the the Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stained preparation and wet prep (inset), (arrows). The ZN stain had been performed to screen for acid fast bacilli (AFB). AFBs would stain bright red with the carbol fuchsin dye, whereas the larva is only stained here with the methylene blue counter stain. This case goes well with last week ' s, in wh...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 6, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Researcher Shares Science en Espa ñol and Builds a Community
Dr. Marcos Ramos-Benítez. Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Ramos-Benítez.
“For me, science is the perfect way to harmonize creative thinking and critical thinking,” says Marcos Ramos-Benítez, Ph.D., a fellow in the NIGMS Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) program.
Dr. Ramos-Benítez researches interactions between pathogens—such as the viruses that cause Ebola and COVID-19—and their hosts. He’s also the founder and president of Ciencia en tus Manos (“Science in Your Hands”), a nonprofit organization that presents scientific information in Spanish and aims to provide a community to support the nex...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - September 1, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist COVID-19 Infectious Diseases Profiles Training Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 651
This week ' s case is from Dr. Ioana Bujila and her colleagues at the Department of Parasitology at the Swedish Public Health Agency. The following were seen in a formalin-ethyl acetate concentration of feces from a young girl with recent travel to India. Some of these hardy eggs contained live larvae - despite the formalin:Identification? Any additional tests that you would like to conduct? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 30, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
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
