Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites

Answer: Lots of Halloween goodies. As Arthur notes, the Entamoeba ladies include Entamoeba histolytica and E. dispar. There are also E. mo...

This week's case was generously donated by Dr. Jane Hata. Several motile structures were seen in a bronchoalveolar lavage from an elderl...

Answer:  ciliated epithelial cells and detached ciliary tufts (ciliocytophthoria) This case demonstrates a convincing parasite mimic that ...

The following structures were seen in a Papanicolaou-stained sputum specimen from a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Iden...

Answer:  Not a parasite; Curschmann spirals As nicely described by Anon, Curschmann spirals are spiral-shaped mucous plugs that are common...

This week's case is a Giemsa-stained sputum specimen from a patient with abrupt onset of productive cough and expectoration of "sal...

Answer:   Echinococcus sp. The main diagnostic features of this case are the characteristic protoscoleces with suckers and hooklets in a b...

The following ova were found in a stool specimen from a patient with weight loss and chronic abdominal pain.  Identification? (CLICK ON IMAG...

Answer: Eggs of Fasciola hepatica or Fasciolopsis buski. As pointed out by Florida Fan, this diagnosis can be made based on the large size...

This week's case just came through my laboratory and was nicely captured by Emily F. The specimen is skin scrapings. Identification? ...