Case of the Week 500!!!

Welcome to my 500th Parasite Case of the Week - a special celebration of our parasitology community.

I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful readers. You keep me on my toes, send me amazing cases, and teach me a lot. I had asked for submissions of your parasite-related artwork and received some amazing entries. I put the names of all contributors into a hat and randomly selected the following 3 names:
Sheldon Campbell
Piotr Kochan
Melanie Riblett

Congratulations! I will reach out to you later to give you your prizes :)

So now without further ado, here are all of the fabulous parasite creations of our talented group:

Kate Grannis - chalk art

Marc Courturier - baked goods

Blaine Mathison - Halloween cupcakes! AND pinworm eggs - a giant scotch tape prep:

 Andrea Dahl - multimedia ticks!

Melissa Blessing - Giant Microbe® ghostie and bandit

Heather Rose and family - Ixodes scapularis adults and larva

Mark Fox - ink drawing of Haemonchus contortus

Alexandra Bryson - Loa loa costume

Kelly Hedlund (submitted by Ryal Relich) - Trypanosoma cruzi crochet art

The Winters - Clonorchis and snail host costumes

Mark Fox and Kristine - our lovely hookworm couple

Piotr Kochan - photography, Ascaris and Giardia

Idzi Potters - photography
'nebula' stool crystal

 Toxocara cati adult worm

 Tunga penetrans

Tunga party!

Melanie Riblett - Easter eggs!

Frances Dodge - photography

And finally, from Sheldon Campbell, the fabulous singing microbiologist:
Click HERE to hear Sheldon live!
Lyrics:

Home in the Gut

Copyright © 2001 by Sheldon Campbell

Oh give me a home where the parasites roam

Where the worms play in cheerful delight

Where the ova are shed, and the larvae are bred

And the pinworms crawl out in the night

Chorus

Home, home in the gut

Where the worms play in cheerful delight

Where the ova are shed, and the larvae are bred

And the pinworms crawl out in the night

Oh hookworm am I, my ova go by

In your stool and then hatch in the mud

They punch through your skin, and migrate again

To the gut, where they suck out your blood

Chorus

I live in the stream of the bile that's green

I'm Clonorchis, so please get it right

And my life's greatest wish is to enter a fish
And then you with your sushi tonight

Chorus

I cling to the wall, a tapeworm so tall

Borne by pork I came to this new home

Now while I procreate, you've got a sure date

'Cause with me you are never alone

Chorus

Please come swim with me, so that we can be free

To burrow into your bare legs
We just copulate, so we can populate

Your liver with our extra eggs

Chorus

The rectum’s my home, but I would love to roam

And lay my eggs out on your butt

I know it’s a bitch, but when you scratch that itch

My kids get into your kid’s gut.