Sunday, March 9, 2008

Parasite Case of the Week 12

Welcome to the Parasite Case of the Week.
Every Monday there will be a new case, as well as the answer to the previous case (you will find it below the corresponding case). Please feel free to leave a comment or your thoughts regarding the diagnosis. Enjoy!

This egg measures 55 um in length. Focusing up and down highlights important structural features. Click on images to enlarge.

Identification?
What other parasite egg has a similar appearance and how can you differentiate it?








Images taken at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Shown with permission.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is capillaria. Trichuris is very similar in appearance. The "plugs" of Trichuris eggs protrude at the ends whereas in capillaria they are more within the structure of the egg, as shown.

Heather said...

Agreed. Curious--Can the species of Capillaria be differentiated based on site of infection (lung vs liver vs intestine?)