This week's case was graciously donated by Dr. Kyle Rodino, one of our outstanding former Medical Microbiology fellows. The following specimen was submitted to the clinical microbiology laboratory in vodka (which deserves extra points for creativity). Identification?
Monday, January 11, 2021
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Answer to Case 622
Answer to the Parasite Case of the Week 622: drunken Pediculus humanus capitis
There are pretty entertaining and interesting comments that I would encourage you to read if you are interested! Here are some of the key findings in this case:
Thanks again to Dr. Rodino for donating this interesting case.Monday, January 4, 2021
Case of the Week 621
Happy New Year everyone! We are going to kick off the New Year with a fascinating (and challenging) case by Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp.
From Idzi: While I was rummaging through the education-samples, I stumbled upon a strange-looking, small vial, containing a liquid from unknown origin. When I looked at the identification label, I was quite surprised to find a name that sounded like a very exotic parasite…
During a quick microscopical examination, I found eggs of about 60-70 µm in length.
Who can guess which parasite I found? Hint: the source ended up being a cyst near the ear from an African man.
Sunday, January 3, 2021
Answer to Case 621
Answer to the Parasite Case of the Week 621: Poikïlorchis (Achillurbainia) congolensis.
Wow, I am so impressed with how many of you got this identification. This rare parasite was first described in Nature in 1957 in a man from the Belgian Congo.
From Idzi: Poikilorchis congolensis, or alternatively Achillurbainia congolensis -as the genus Poïkilorchis (Fain and Vandepitte, 1957) was regarded by Dollfus as a synonym of Achillurbainia (Dollfus, R. P., 1966. Personal communication).
As far as I have found in the literature, it has been described in humans only eight times up ‘till now, although some authors suggest that some of the reported cases of Paragonimus (especially in Africa) could be in fact cases of Poïkilorchis infection.
Although its hosts are not known for sure, Poïkilorchis congolensis is considered to be a zoonosis, with the common final host probably being leopards (and maybe also giant rats?) and intermediate hosts being probably freshwater crabs.
The infection typically produces subcutaneous retroauricular cysts, which contain as well the eggs as the adults. Nevertheless, in many (human) cases only eggs are found in the cyst.
In the literature, I found human cases in Central and West Africa, Sarawak (Malaysia), possible also one in China…
Idzi and the vial of of Poïkilorchis congolensis eggs.Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Case of the Week 620
This week's case is a nice straight-forward one because - spoiler alert - we are going to have a really fun challenge from Idzi Potters next week to start off our new year.
The following worm was found during routine colonoscopy. Identification? For 'extra credit' - which end is anterior? And is this a male or female?
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Answer to Case 620
Answer to Parasite Case of the Week 620: Trichuris trichiura, a.k.a. "whipworm". This is a male, as evidenced by its curled tail and copulatory spicule (note the location of the anterior and posterior ends):
Be sure to check out the comments section to see all of the creative comments that go with this case!
Monday, December 21, 2020
Case of the Week 619
Dear readers,
Wishing you and your family a very happy, safe and healthy holidays. To celebrate the season, I thought I would share a few of my favorite photographs from my 2020 calendar - all decked out for the holidays. Can you tell what they are?
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Answer to Case 619
Answers to Parasite Case of the Week 619: Trichuris trichiura, Schistosoma couple, and Hymenolepis nana.
Monday, December 14, 2020
Case of the Week 618
This week's case features some photos from a cool histopathology case I found in my archives. The source is "large single liver cyst". Identification? What cool things do you see in these images?
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Answer to Case 618
Answer to Parasite Case of the Week 618: Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato species complex
There are many cool features in this cool case. Here are just a few that I thought were worth pointing out:
Protoscoleces don't usually evert unless they have been ingested by the definitive canid host. They then mature into the adult worm and live in the gut of the host. I'm guessing that eversion occurred in this case as part of the degenerative process.