Parasite Case of the Week 735
This week ' s case features a liver cyst (6 cm in diameter) that was removed and send to the parasitology laboratory for evaluation. The following images were taken by our fabulous Education Specialists, Felicity Norrie. Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - January 17, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 735
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 735:Echinococcusspecies.The diagnosis can be made by the finding of the characteristic protoscoleces. As noted by Florida Fan, " On a closer look, the hooklets are clearly visible as well as the numerous calcareous particles. Since there is one cyst, the indication is that the agent isEchinococcus granulosis.A Hamburg-based Oregon alumni further noted that forE. granulosus, " The liver is the most frequent location of echinococcal cysts (approx. 70% of cases). The lungs are the second most common location. "Thanks again to Felicity from my lab to taking these beautiful phot...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - January 16, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 734
Welcome to the first blog post of 2024! I had been particularly busy last year as I was serving as the Interim Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic. Now that the permanent Department Chair has arrived, I can go back to my ' day job ' of Chair of Clinical Microbiology and Director of the Clinical Parasitology laboratory. I anticipate being able to go back to regular posting again as well. So without further ado, here is our case this week, courtesy of Heather Morris, the Parasitology Technical Specialist in my laboratory. The following objects were found in a concentrated wet prep...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - January 11, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 734
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 734:Entamoeba colicysts. As noted by Florida Fan and Mary Lois Smorenburg noted, these cysts can be easily recognized by their large size and number of nuclei (>4). These are the most definitive features of this organism and allow it to be differentiated from similar-appearingEntamoebaspp. such asE. histolytica.Other supportive features pointed out by Mary Lois Smorenburg and Dr. Satishkumar Krishnan are the eccentric karyosome within each nucleus is and the irregular splinter shaped chromatoid body.Thanks again to Heather Morris for donating our first case of 2024! (Sou...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - January 9, 2024 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
What Is the Immune System?
A computer-generated image of the rotavirus, a virus that commonly causes illness in children through inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Credit: Bridget Carragher, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California.
What do antibodies, mucus, and stomach acid have in common? They’re all parts of the immune system!
The immune system is a trained army of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to block, detect, and eliminate harmful insults to your body. It can protect you from invaders like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
Innate and Adaptive
The immune system is often thought of as two...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - December 11, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Common questions Immunology Miniseries Infectious Diseases Microbes Source Type: blogs
What are nitazenes? Benzimidazole opioids
Benzimidazole opioids, also commonly known as nitazenes, were first synthesised by CIBA Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s as putative alternatives to morphine and heroin for use as strong painkillers. They have never made it into use in clinical medicine because the risk of addiction, respiratory depression, and death in use is too high.
Etonitazene has hundreds of times the potency of morphine
The compounds are classified as opioid New Psychoactive Substances (opioid NPS). Their mode of action is to bind to the brain’s mu-opioid receptors, but their unique structure means that some examples are several hundred times more...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - December 11, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Chemistry Health and Medicine Pharma Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 733
This week ' s case is by Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. The following object was removed from a furuncular skin lesion in a patient with recent travel to Uganda. Once they were able to keep it still (!), Idzi captured the following photographs demonstrating all of the diagnostic features. What is your identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - December 7, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Beyond K-pop and kimchi: Unraveling the mental health tapestry of Korean Americans
Korean culture has been capturing the attention of a worldwide audience in large part thanks to success on multiple platforms, whether it be a binge-worthy TV show such as Squid Game, award-winning films like Parasite, or even world-class goals from the beloved Hotspurs team captain, Son Heung Min. Celebrating Korean culture jumps beyond the screen
Read more…
Beyond K-pop and kimchi: Unraveling the mental health tapestry of Korean Americans originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 7, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Dae Sun Hwang, Thomas Pak, MD, and Joo-Young Lee, MD Tags: Physician Psychiatry Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 733
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 733:Cordylobia anthropophaga,myiasis causing fly larva. Florida Fan painted an accurate picture of this parasite with his vivid description: " The mango fly, aka Tumbu fly, lays eggs on human clothing hung to dry in the sun. The Man-Eating larvae hatching eats its way into the skin of its prey. The three sinuous slits are definite identification clues. Ironing the clothes dried outdoor kills the eggs and prevent a myasis infection. The video clearly exemplifies the voracious nature of The Beast. " Very apt!The adult female fly also commonly lays her eggs on sandy soil conta...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - December 4, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 732
Welcome back to all of my US readers from the Thanksgiving holiday. Here is a fun case with the answer embedded - just listen to the audio with the video. Or if you ' d prefer, keep the volume down and give your best guess on what you think this is! This case is donated by Dr. Jessica Lin and her colleague who is field physician in Tanzania. The patient is a 4 year old boy with anal pruritus and history of passing worms from his anus. Several white-tan worms measuring ~5mm long were examined: (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - November 27, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 732
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 732:Enterobius vermicularis(pinworm) adult female. As noted by Florida Fan, " Well, this is a classic situation. Children by nature are very altruistic, sharing their prize possessions (e.g., M&M ’s). The asymmetric eggs with a flat side and a convex side are commonly shared in this fashion. " The appearance of the eggs is also called planoconvex or " D " shaped. Anonymous mentioned that the extensive uterine reproductive system of the fertilized female worm is often completely filled with with these eggs.If you watched the video, you could see the movement of the egg...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - November 26, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 731
The following objects were seen in fluid aspirated from a cyst in the liver. Identification?Some were still moving! (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - November 16, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 731
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 731:Echinococcussp. protoscolex. Hopefully you all got to look at it moving! Given that this is a single liver cyst, it would fit withE. granulosus. Correlation with radiologic and epidemiologic features would be helpful for confirmation.Here are some of the key diagnostic features: (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - November 14, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 730
This week ' s case is generously donated by Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp.The following were seen in used contact lens solution from a young woman with complaints of eye pain and blurry vision. The first two images are taken with light microscopy, and the third with phase-contrast microscopy. What is your diagnosis? Please describe the forms you are seeing. (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - November 9, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 730
Answer tothe Parasite Case of the Week 730:Acanthamoebakeratitis.As noted by Anonymous, the pictures are a perfect rendition of the “thorny”Acanthamoeba trophozoite and its polygonal cyst (acanth is New Latin, from Greek akanthos, from akanthathorn, spine). Cysts have 2 layers: a wrinkled outer layer (ectocyst) and inner layer (endocyst) that can be polygonal, spherical, hexagonal, or star-shaped.Dr. Satishkumar Krishnam further described the trophozoite as " characterized by spine like pseudopodia (acanthopodia). " Chuck Blend noted that it looks like the first few seconds of a new proto-universe formi...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - November 9, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
