Sunday, January 6, 2019

Case of the Week 526

This week's case is a nice straight-forward one - I promise, no tricks! Please identify the following worm. She was ripped in half and only the anterior end was submitted to us. If intact, she would have measured approximately 1 cm long.

 Her eggs measured ~60 micrometers in length:

10 comments:

Bernardino Rocha said...

A adult female of Enterobius vermicularis and eggs.Straightforward indeed.

Unknown said...

In humans it is enterobius, but in animals we have oxyuris in equines, syphacia in rodents and others.

Bernardino Rocha said...

In the case is without doubt a E. vermicularis but Pinworms (Oxyuroidea) are common in mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians but are rare in fish. You can also find Pharyngodon sp. in reptiles. E. gregorii is reported as a separated species, but some investigators believe that E. gregorii could be a stage phase of E. vermicularis. Enterobius anthropopitheci, the chimpanzee pinworm, as well as E. vermicularis and E. gregorii were found in chimpanzees. Syphacia are rarely found in humans, but common in wild and domestic rodents (S. muris; S. obvelata). Males of Syphacia spp. have two or three ventral mamelons (serrated projections), females are typical pinworms, but the eggs are operculated.

Marta MP said...

Enterobius vermicularis

Anonymous said...

For sure a case of Enterobius vermicularis. The cephalic alae and esophageal bulb are visible. The eggs have a characteristic flat side. It is nice to know that there are animal pinworms as well.
Florida Fan

Unknown said...

Definitely Enterobius vermicularis. The amount of eggs they can produce is quite impressive!

Sam said...

Enterobius vermicularis

Old One said...

Occasionally a client would show up who would say, "my physician diagnosed pinworm in my child and that the infection had come from the dog". To make things worse the physician often suggested euthanizing the animal.

DOGS AND CAT DO NOT HAVE PINWORMS.... Pinworms are very host specific, even if they had pinworms they would not be infective to humans. Eggs could be transferred mechanically on the fur of pets but it would still be human to human. Medicate the hosts and wash the dirty linen (and pets).

As diagnosticians you may be the only one who knows the truth.

Blaine A. Mathison said...

Dwelling deep down in the lumen of your large intestine
a female pinworm is making her way to the perianal skin
for before the rooster crows
she'll lay eggs in droves
that are going to cause your booty to start itchin'

Unknown said...

Enterobius vermicularis- gravid female, paperweight/coffee bean-like eggs