Monday, September 7, 2020

Case of the Week 605

 Happy Labor Day weekend to all of my American readers! I hope you are having a restful and safe holiday weekend. It's the first Monday of the month and time for our case from Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. A middle-aged man brought the following worm to his primary care provider. He noticed it in the toilet after a bowel movement. Identification?


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did we say “after the bowel movement”? Good thing the patient did not pass it out. Yes, we have seen this annelid a few times. It always shows the locomotive spicules on each ring of the body. A diligent, hardworking creature, it bores it tunnels through the rich loam most often ignored by most, it aerates its living Earth. Gardeners prize it for its urine and pellets, fisherman love it as their succulent wiggling bait irresistible to passing fish. Yet the humble night crawler got its place in French poetry in the poem “Le lombric’’. One time, I was formally complained to the medical director for signing the report as ‘’earth worm’’, the sample was referred to the State Laboratory where it was confirmed as being a Lumbricus terrestris. Yes this harmless worm can give a panic to a few caring parents.
Well, long story short I should stop before being reprimanded for being ‘’Le Grand Bavard’’.
Florida Fan

Anonymous said...

Wow! After what Florida Fan said, what else can I say?
Interesting case, Idzi, as always.
Luis

Old One said...

This gives a new demention to my stale punch line. "Got worms going fishing anyway."

Bernardino Rocha said...

Agree with an oligochaete. An interesting case indeed.