Case of the Week 699
Greetings from South Korea! This week ' s case shows an important parasite in this country, shown to be found in up to 8.4% of residents living along 5 major rivers in South Korea in a recent survey. What parasite is shown here? Bonus questions: what are the potential health implications for patients with long-standing infection with this parasite? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 25, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 699
Answer:Clonorchis sinensis/Opisthorchiseggs. The location (South Korea) is consistent withC. sinensis.As noted by Sam, " Both eggs have an abopercular knob and an obvious operculum. So these could be eggs of eitherClonorchis sinensisorOpisthorchisspecies (both liver flukes). We can ' t differentiate based on morphology, but based on the patient being from/living in South Korea, we can likely narrow the identification down toClonorchis sinensis, as Korea is an endemic region for this parasite. WhereasOpisthorichis viverriniis endemic to South East Asia (i.e, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand). Biliary complications can aris...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 23, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 698
This week ' s case is from Dr. Richard Bradbury and his colleague. The following " worms " were removed from the buttocks and left thigh of a 4 year old girl in The Gambia, West Africa. Identification?Posterior spiracles:Close up of the body:Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 11, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 698
Answer toParasite Case of the Week 698: Cutaneous/furuncular myiasis due to Cordylobia anthropophaga(a.k.a. the tumbu or mango fly). As nicely described by Florida Fan, the spiny body, sinuous posterior slits without distinguishable peritreme, and the geographic location all are consistent withC. anthropophaga. Idzi P. added that " the evenly distributed and pigmented cuticular spines are also supportive of this identification. " The presence of 3 slits indicates that this is a third stage larva, which allows for identification using commonly-available identification keys. Here is a closer view of the ...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 9, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 697
It ' s time for our monthly case from Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp!The following structure was seen in a lugol-stained wet preparation of concentrated feces. The corresponding iron hematoxylin stained fecal smear showed the following:Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 3, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 697
Answer to Parasite Case of the Week 697:Entamoeba hartmannicyst and trophozoite. As noted by Florida Fan, Clinton White, TheOracle, and many others, the trophozoite has the classicEntamoeba-type chromatin pattern (peripheral ring of condensed chromatin and a central dot-like karyosome), whereas the size of the troph and cyst are characteristic ofEntamoeba hartmanni.Thanks again to Idzi Potters for donation of another excellent case! (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - October 2, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 696
The following objects were seen in a urine specimen from a young man originally from sub-Saharan Africa. What are we seeing here? The beautiful photos are by Felicity Norrie, MLS(ASCP). (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 26, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 696
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 696: Schistosoma haematobiumegg and larva (miracidium).As noted by Florida Fan, the morphology of the eggs is consistent withS. haematobiumandS. intercalatum,as both are ovoid with a terminal spine. However,S. haematobiumis usually found in urine, whereasS. intercalatumis usually found in stool. I didn ' t provide a size in this case, but it ' s helpful to know thatS. intercalatumis also usually longer thanS. haematobiumand has a central bulge.It is unusual to see a free miracidium in the urine. Note the circumferential cilia which gives it a shaggy appearance. TheOrac...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 25, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 695
This week ' s case is a very sad situation in which a highly immunocompromised patient died from her parasitic infection (in addition to multiple other co-infections). The following is a whole slide scanned section from her small intestine that was obtained at autopsy. DIGITAL SLIDEHere are some screen shots as well:What is your identification? Bonus questions:Are there any infectious concerns with with handling the fresh autopsy specimens?What parasite forms are seen in this specimen? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 20, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 695
The following excellent answer to this week ' s case is by our guest author, Jacob Rattin (@eternalstudying), medical student and future pathologist. Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 695:Strongyloides stercoralishyperinfection. Many readers commented that this wasStrongyloides stercoralis, with several Twitter and LinkedIn users correctly mentioning “hyperinfection.” Great job! Here is the DIGITAL SLIDE for your reference. While this case had a very sad outcome, it highlights important features ofStrongyloides hyperinfection. Individuals who are elderly or immunocompromised (eg, soli...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 18, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 694
Hello Readers! I ' m back after some busy weeks and an overseas holiday, and am pleased to announce that I have a guest author for this and next week ' s post, Mr. Jacob Rattin. Our case for this week was donated by Dr. Susan Butler-Wu, Dr. Ria Vergara, and Lowel Ordono. They noticed this intriguing findings in a wet preparation of BAL specimen from an immunocompromised patient and worsening respiratory status. The specimen had been stored refrigerate for>24 hours. Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 12, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 694
The following excellent answer to this week ' s case is by our guest author, Jacob Rattin (@eternalstudying), medical student and future pathologist. Hopefully we will be able to recruit him to my residency program at Mayo Clinic!Answer to Parasite Case of the Week694: BAL showing a ciliated respiratory epithelial cell exhibiting ciliary movement.If you reach back into your memories from undergrad cell bio, motile cilia contain “9+2” axonemes made up of 9 doublet microtubules and a central pair of microtubule singlets. The peripherally located “9+2” doublets are associated with several accessory proteins, with dyne...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - September 11, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 29th 2022
This study demonstrates that adoptive astrocytic Mt transfer enhances neuronal Mn-SOD-mediated anti-oxidative defense and neuroplasticity in the brain, which potentiate functional recovery following ICH.
First Generation Stem Cell Therapies Remain Comparatively Poorly Understood
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/08/first-generation-stem-cell-therapies-remain-comparatively-poorly-understood/
We are something like thirty years into the increasingly widespread use of first generation stem cell therapies. Cells are derived from a variety of sources, processed, and transplanted into patients. Near all...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 28, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Cancer Vaccines Using Lipid Nanoparticle Delivered mRNA Seem Promising
Cancer vaccines work by instructing the immune system to attack a particular cell surface feature characteristic of cancer cells. Cancers tend to subvert the immune system and suppress its activities in and around tumor tissue, however, so improvements in the effectiveness of a vaccine, the degree to which it will rouse the immune system to action, are helpful. Here, researchers present an example of the way in which the present generation of new vaccine technologies can be applied to this goal in the development of improved cancer vaccines.
Researchers had previously designed lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that targe...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 23, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 693
This week ' s case was kindly donated by Dr. Mike Mitchell and his laboratory. The patient is a middle-aged man with fever, intermittent cough, headache and mental status changes. He had a history of lymphoma and was receiving maintenance immunosuppressive chemotherapy. Of note, he had several episodes of bacteriemia and progressively worsening pulmonary infiltrates. He was originally from Sub-Saharan Africa but had been living in the United States for several decades. The following are images from a duodenal aspirate:What is your diagnosis? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 22, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
