Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites

The week's case was generously donated by Blaine Mathison. Below are H&E-stained sections of a perineal abscess of a patient diagnos...

Answer: Blastocystis hominis This was a very unusual and interesting case which generated a lot of great discussion. Thank you for the com...

This week's case was generously donated by Dr. Eric Rosenbaum who received the following in his laboratory. Identification?

Answer: Human Bed bug ( Cimex sp.) This case shows the characteristic features of a bed bug, including the flattened body, brown-red color...

This week's case is from Emily F. in my lab. No history is available. Identification?

Answer:   Pediculus humanus , not further specified. As several readers mentioned, knowing the source of the infestation would have been v...

This week's case was generously donated by Dr. Heidi Lehrke. These objects were seen in a lymph node aspirate specimen. May-Grunwald-G...

Answer: Giardia duodenalis  (a.k.a. G. intestinalis, G. lamblia ) trophozoites This Giemsa-based stain nicely highlights all of the diagno...

This week's case was discovered by the awesome techs in my lab while examining a concentrated wet-preparation from a stool specimen subm...

Answer: Mite, not further identified. It is difficult to identify this mite to the genus level based on the images shown. However, it is c...