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This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory.

Case of the week 258
The following case was donated by Drs. Stephanie Slemp, Nicole Hubbard, Morgan McCoy, Ryan Relich, and Bryan Schmitt. The following liver mass was resected from a 20 year old man. The man had recently immigrated to the U.S. from South America. Below is a cross-section of the lesion. While awaiting the histopathology, what is your differential diagnosis from the gross exam? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 20, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 257
The following case was generously donated by Blaine Mathison. It is a photograph from a slide stained with a fluorescent antibody to a particular parasite. The green fluorescing objects measure approximately 4-6 micrometers in diameter. Diagnosis? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 14, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to case 257
Answer: Cryptosporidium species. Lee suggested that this is the newly recognized species, Cryptosporidium enterprisium.Florida Fan rightly points out that, although considered the gold standard test for Cryptosporidium, the DFA may not detect all species that infect humans. Therefore, another test that can be used to confirm the identification of spherical, 4-6 micron diameter objects on wet prep, would be an Acid Fast stain. As the new molecular multiplex panels become commercially available, they also may be used as an initial or confirmatory test. (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 13, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

EBI-Sanger postdoctoral fellowship on Plasmodium kinase regulatory networks
I am happy to announce a call for applications for a EBI-Sanger postdoctoral fellowship to study the kinase regulatory networks in Plasmodium. This is one of four currently open calls in the the EBI–Sanger Postdoctoral (ESPOD) Programme and the call closes on the 26th of July. This interdisciplinary programme is meant to foster collaborations between the EBI and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, both at the Genome Campus near Cambridge UK. Our project is a collaboration between myself (EBI), Jyoti Choudhary (mass-spectrometry group leader at Sanger) and Oliver Billker (group leader a...
Source: Public Rambling - May 13, 2013 Category: Bioinformaticians Tags: positions Source Type: blogs

How to Clean you AC Ducts at Home
Frequent AC duct washing is suggested in any family with air-conditioning techniques. This should be done especially in hot locations like Dubai where citizens invest 90% of the day in the house. The dirt and dirt may acquire in the channels extra time. This accumulation motivates pattern and microbe development which presents health hazards. Only a certified Dubai A/C duct cleaners is capable of doing thorough A/C washing. This is because only an experienced can do duct washing more than two legs into the duct. A certified Dubai AC cleaners also has technology to sterilize the tubes. However, you can still fresh the air c...
Source: Addiction Recovery Blog - May 6, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Addiction Recovery Author Tags: Addiction Recovery Tips Source Type: blogs

The Medical Periodic Table
Here's the latest "medical periodic table", courtesy of this useful review in Chemical Communications. Element symbols in white are known to be essential in man. The ones with a blue background are found in the structures of known drugs, the orange ones are used in diagnostics, and the green ones are medically useful radioisotopes. (The paper notes that titanium and tantalum are colored blue due to their use in implants). I'm trying to figure out a couple of these. Xenon I've heard of as a diagnostic (hyperpolarized and used in MRI of lung capacity), but argon? (The supplementary material for the paper says that argon pla...
Source: In the Pipeline - May 6, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Odd Elements in Drugs Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 256
Multiple hairs were submitted to the laboratory for microscopic examination. Under the dissecting microscope, the following were seen:Identification?Thanks to H.A. for taking these photographs! (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 5, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

When it comes to handling cases, good communication helps
I saw a thoracic surgeon in the doctor’s lounge today. I have read his cases and frozens for a year or so, but never introduced myself. I still get intimidated in that man’s world of the doctor’s lounge. It’s not just me, my female partner was urged by her male recruiter to eat with him every morning in the lounge when she started seven years ago, and chit chat with the men. She said although she realized he was trying to be nice, it was excruciating and she bowed out politely after a few weeks. Walking in there is like walking into an all male club room. The thoracic surgeon was sitting around the table with a...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 5, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Physician Cancer Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 256
Answer: Phthirus pubis, a.k.a. crab lice (3 to be exact).Note their classic 'crab-shaped' claws - used for grasping on to the coarse hairs of the genital region and eyebrows/eyelashes. Also shown here is a classic nit of P. pubis, with the raised operculum that allows it to be differentiated from the flatter operculum of the body/head louse, Pediculus humanus. Here are the 2 nits shown side by side for comparison:And now, a lovely poem from Blaine:On a trip to Vegas one man thought he mightHire company for the duration of the nightBut he got more than he paid forFrom his mistress d’amourFor now Phthirus...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 4, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 255
A Sudanese refugee was seen for progressive confusion, daytime somnolence and personality disturbances. Despite treatment, he died and an autopsy was performed. Sections of brain revealed the following:Perivascular lymphoplasmacytic inflammation, H&E 400xLymphoplasmacytic inflammation, H&E 1000xLymphoplasmacytic inflammation, H&E 1000xA peripheral blood smear obtained prior to death showed the following:Diagnosis? What is the object seen in image 3 (also present in image 2)? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 29, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 255
Answer: African trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma brucei. It is not possible to tell the 2 subspecies of Trypanosoms brucei apart microscopically, but the origin of the patient (Sudan) would be consistent with East African trypanosomiasis due to T. b. rhodesiense. The flagellated form of T. brucei (called trypomastigotes) are typically seen in peripheral blood, and in late stage disease, in CSF. They can be differentiated from the similar-appearing T. cruzi trypomastigotes by the small size of their kinetoplast (arrows, below). Occasionally, trypomastigotes of other zoonotic organisms such ...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 28, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Bad Ome-like word of the week: symbiome
Well I got pointed to this paper: Transgenerational Transmission of the Glossina pallidipes Hytrosavirus Depends on the Presence of a Functional Symbiome And as many might guess - the word "symbiome" did not sit well with me. Alas, they don't define it in the paper. So I can't really quibble with their definition. But I did find some other stuff out there that, well, at least helps see how other people are using the word: Symbiomism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia iPhylo: Visualising the symbiome: hosts, parasites, and the Tree of Life Observing the Coral Symbiome Using Laser Scanning Confocal "...
Source: The Tree of Life - April 27, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs

Guest post: Kevin Carpenter on his new microbial photo exhibit at the Exploratorium in SF #SoCool
Special guest post from Kevin Carpenter who has microbe photos featured at the Exploratorium. One of my colleagues who does research on the microbes that live in the hindguts of lower termites once remarked that interesting organisms can be found in the most unusual of places. And the lower termite hindgut, by almost anyone’s estimation, is certainly an unusual place. It is also a fascinating place for anyone interested in biology, ecology, evolution, biochemistry, or beautiful natural forms and patterns. Since my undergraduate days in the early 90s, I have had a deep interest in the tree of life, especially eukaryote...
Source: The Tree of Life - April 24, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs

Welcome to the World of Pseudo-Academia: Pathology-2013
A recent article detailed a conference and journal scam that is being foisted on gullible academics in search of publications and lecture appearances, probably to pad their CVs (see: Scientific Articles Accepted (Personal Checks, Too). Here is an excerpt from the article from the NYT. I am only quoting part of it so link to it for more details. [Some] scientists [have recently] stumbled into a parallel world of pseudo-academia, complete with prestigiously titled conferences and journals that sponsor them. Many of the journals and meetings have names that are nearly identical to those of established, well-known publications...
Source: Lab Soft News - April 18, 2013 Category: Pathologists Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Laboratory Industry Trends Medical Education Medical Ethics Medical Research Pathology Resources Pathology Teaching and Education Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 254
This week's case is just a fun identification. (Hint, these objects were obtained at the local hospital pharmacy...) Questions:1. What are they used for in the health care setting?2. Which bacteria is associated with them? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 15, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Longevity, Technological Progress, and Economic Growth
Longevity and wealth go hand in hand. This association is very evident in many periods of history, such as the century leading up to the industrial revolution in England, or the more recent and very rapid transformation of South Korean society from rural poverty to industrialized wealth, accompanied by an equally rapid rise in life expectancy. Thus economics should be a topic of at least passing interest for everyone who follows longevity science, or looks forward to a future of extended healthy life provided by new medical biotechnologies. Frankly, economics in the broadest sense of human action and its explanations shou...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 15, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 254
Answer: Hirudo medicinalis, the European medicinal leech. Today, leeches are not used for 'balancing humors' but instead to to reduce venous pooling of blood in delicate surgeries such as reconstructive and reattachment surgeries. Medicinal leeches secrete a number of anticoagulants in addition to hirudin which facilitate blood flow and therefore promote wound healing. Note that leeches are annelids and not trematodes, despite their superficial resemblence. You can appreciated their segmented nature in this photograph:Medicinal leeches carry Aeromonas hydrophila in their gut. Therefore, it is ...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 14, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

What will Elsevier do with Mendeley's usage data?
There is a flood of commentary covering the sale of Mendeley to Elsevieer. However, only a few posts have bemoaned the sale of Mendeley's usage data to Elsevier. So perhaps now is a good time to speculate a little, what Elsevier might be up to with this new asset. In particular, a speculation with their past track record in mind.Obviously, given that Mendeley can be used to share copyrighted content, Elsevier could go and sue Mendeley users for breach of copyright. Elsevier and other corporate publishers have a long track record of suing their customers, so this would not be unexpected at all, on the contrary - we should b...
Source: bjoern.brembs.net - a neuroscientist's blog : RSS feed of bjoern.brembs.net - April 12, 2013 Category: Neurologists Authors: bjoern Tags: science politics Source Type: blogs

Elsevier changes strategy and buys Mendeley instead of shutting it down
The recent acquisition of popular reference manager Mendeley (I'm a Mendeley user myself) apparently only was a consequential step for publishing giant Elsevier, according to Mendeley insider Jason Hoyt. Anyway, the price-tag of 100m US$ (or less) pocket change for a firm that rakes in a billion in profits every year. Jason tells us that from the very beginning, Mendeley's open API as well as some other open discovery functionality was a thorn in the side of toll-access corporation Elsevier. Apparently, the giant made sure their 36% profit margin wasn't threatened by bullying Mendeley into rolling back some of their func...
Source: bjoern.brembs.net - a neuroscientist's blog : RSS feed of bjoern.brembs.net - April 9, 2013 Category: Neurologists Authors: bjoern Tags: science politics Source Type: blogs

Real-Time PCR Detection of Foodborne and Waterborne Parasites
from George D. Di Giovanni, Gregory D. Sturbaum, and Huw V. Smith writing in Real-Time PCR in Food Science: Current Technology and Applications:Many parasites are capable of infecting humans, with zoonotic and environmental transmission pathways having significant roles. Of particular significance are pathways involving contaminated food and water. Despite increasing risks posed by food and waterborne parasites due to global sourcing of food, cosmopolitan eating habits, and increased international travel; detection and epidemiologic methods for many of these parasites remains underdeveloped. Microscopy-based detection and ...
Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. - April 9, 2013 Category: Microbiology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 253
The following images are taken from slides submitted to our surgical pathology consult service for identification. The associated gross description describes a tan firm object measuring 0.3 cm x 0.3 cm x 0.1 cm. 40x magnification 100x magnification200x magnification200x magnification400x magnificationIdentification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 8, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 253
Answer: Arthropod, most likely a hard tick given the presentation and gross descriptionThis case is somewhat reminiscent of Case 251 in which an object that could have been identified by macroscopic examination was submitted for histologic processing, therefore making the identification extremely difficult. However, there are still features present that allow this 'object' to be identified as an arthropod, as shown in the photo below (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE):You'll note that the features in this case are very similar to a previous case of an embedded tick that was sectioned by histology (Case 83).Here is a poem by...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 7, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

WWWD - What would Wolbachia do? Not always male destruction. Not always mutualism. Sometimes they disappear.
We describe the 91.4-Mb genome of L. loa and that of the related filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti and predict 14,907 L. loa genes on the basis of microfilarial RNA sequencing. By comparing these genomes to that of another filarial parasite, Brugia malayi, and to those of several other nematodes, we demonstrate synteny among filariae but not with nonparasitic nematodes. The L. loa genome encodes many immunologically relevant genes, as well as protein kinases targeted by drugs currently approved for use in humans. Despite lacking Wolbachia, L. loa shows no new metabolic synthesis or transport capabilities compared to o...
Source: The Tree of Life - April 3, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 252
Here is a bit of an unusual case: this was noted in a tube of "sterile saline" in another area of the lab and sent to parasitology for identification. Thoughts? Comments? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 31, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 252
Answer: Mosquito, not further identified I apologize for not providing a genus and species level identification - the mosquito started falling apart when I went to remove it from the tube and I'd like to keep it intact as a display. However, one of my viewers cleverly suggested that this was the previously undescribed Culex salinenis!To answer the question of how it got into the tube to begin with, I had to investigate how the saline tubes are made. First, empty glass tubes are received in bulk from the manufacturer in our media prep lab. They arrive shrink-wrapped in plastic, and are stor...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 30, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 251
This case was generously donated by MicrobeMan and Dr. Euna Choi:A 56-year old male who had just returned hom from a safari in Uganda presented with a red swollen nodule over the right iliac crest and a 1.5 cm x 0.5 cm white-tan object was removed and submitted to surgical pathology. The following are H&E stained sections of this object:20 times original magnification20 times original magnification40 times original magnification100 times original magnification100 times original magnification 100 times original magnificationIdentification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 25, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Plasmodium Genomics and the Art of Sequencing Malaria Parasite Genomes
from Jane M. Carlton, Steven A. Sullivan and Karine G. Le Roch writing in Malaria Parasites: Comparative Genomics, Evolution and Molecular Biology:It may be a cliché to state, but obtaining the genome sequence of an organism is one of the most important â€“ if not the most important â€“ step towards interrogating its biology. The first two malaria parasite genome sequences (Plasmodium falciparum and the rodent model Plasmodium yoelii yoelii) were published in 2002 after more than half a decade of intense sequencing, assembly gap closure, and sequence annotation. Since then, reference genomes of several mor...
Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. - March 25, 2013 Category: Microbiology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 251
Answer: fly larva; clinical presentation is consistent with myiasisMany commented that identification becomes more challenging when arthropods are sectioned and stained since the external features are obscured or lost. However, there are still features that allow us to positively identify this as a fly larva such as the overall size and shape, mandibles, and yellow cuticular spines:Unfortunately, definitive identification to the genus or species level is not possible without macroscopic examination of the larva. Therefore, we instead must rely on the clinical history, which would suggest that this larva is like...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 24, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Plasmodium Experimental Genetic Crosses
from Lisa C. Ranford-Cartwright, Karen l. Hayton and Michael T. Ferdig writing in Malaria Parasites: Comparative Genomics, Evolution and Molecular Biology:Experimental genetic crosses mimic the sexual reproduction process, and accompanying genetic recombination, that occurs between individuals of the same species during natural transmission. Experimental crosses performed using rodent and human species of Plasmodium have been used to link phenotype and genotype for a variety of traits, and have been particularly useful for understanding phenotypes for which no obvious candidate genes are known. In addition, analysis of exp...
Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. - March 22, 2013 Category: Microbiology Source Type: blogs

Malaria Parasites review
Excerpt from a book review of Malaria Parasites: Comparative Genomics, Evolution and Molecular Biology:"timely and critical appraisal ... for PhD students and researchers working with malaria parasites, this text represents an essential and eminently accessible resource for their work." from Paul Horrocks (Keele University Medical School, UK) writing in Parasites and Vectors (2013) 6: 74. read more ...Malaria Parasites: Comparative Genomics, Evolution and Molecular BiologyEdited by: Jane M. Carlton, Susan L. Perkins and Kirk W. DeitschISBN: 978-1-908230-07-2Publisher: Caister Academic PressPublication Date: February 2013 C...
Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. - March 21, 2013 Category: Microbiology Tags: Microbiology Book Reviews Molecular Biology Book Reviews Genomics Book Reviews Parasitology Book Reviews Source Type: blogs

Intestinal Ova Detected by iPhone Camera in Tanzania
The idea of using an iPhone to run health apps and for various types of physiologic monitoring with plug-in devices has been much in the news (see: Patients as Monitors of Their Own Health; Conflation of Health Monitoring by Mobile Devices with Access to EMR & PHR Data; Healthcare Consumers as Self-Trackers; Process Enabled by New Apps). A recent article raises the possibility of using the iPhone camera for the diagnosis of intestinal worm infections in rural Tanzania (see: Worms detected by converted iPhone microscope). Below is an excerpt from it: Scientists used an iPhone 4S to diagnose intestinal worm i...
Source: Lab Soft News - March 20, 2013 Category: Pathologists Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Healthcare Delivery Laboratory Industry Trends Medical Education Medical Research Public Health Informatics Source Type: blogs

Lyme Disease
Pathophysiology of Lyme Disease Lyme disease is an 1) infection with Borrelia burgdorferi via tick bite 2) previous thinking held tick vector was Ixodes but transmission is now thought by some experts to be possible with additional tick species 3) occurs in stage I and stage II days to weeks after infection and in stage III months to years after infection (usually with preceding latency period Signs and Symptoms Stage I 1) characteristic expanding annular rash with central clearing (“bull’s eye or “target” rash) that occurs in only 40% of infections Stage II 2) multiple secondary annular skin lesio...
Source: Inside Surgery - March 19, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Editor Tags: Infectious Disease babesia bulls eye rash coinfections deer tick erythema migrans hyperbaric ixodes target rash Source Type: blogs

Case 250
Welcome to Case 250! Here is a challenging case (in a little more detail than normal) to commemorate this milestone post:A 90-year-old male from Missouri presented with a 3-day history of fever and dyspnea. His medical history included hypertension and splenectomy due to injury. He lived with his wife and reported no recent travel, pet or known tick exposure. On admission, he was febrile (temperature 40˚C) and hypotensive (105/58). Laboratory values of note were elevated leukocytes (13,100 cells/mL; 58% neutrophils), decreased hemoglobin (9.5 g/dL), low platelet count (106,000 cells/mL), increase liver fun...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 17, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

This week in virology, parasitism, and microbiology
In the past five days we released three science shows on the TWi* network. On This Week in Microbiology (TWiM) episode #52, Vincent and Michael meet up with Ellen Jo Baron to talk about working in a clinical microbiology laboratory. On This Week in Parasitism (TWiP) episode #52, Vincent and Dickson review the life cycle and pathogenesis of the giant kidney worm, Dioctophyme renale. On This Week in Virology (TWiV) episode #224, Vincent, Alan, Kathy, and Dickson discuss identification of a cell receptor for the coronavirus-EMC, and the role of interferon-epsilon in protecting the female reproductive tract. Thanks ...
Source: virology blog - March 17, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Microbiology This Week in Parasitism This Week in Virology clinical microbiology coronavirus EMC dioctophyme renale ellen jo baron giant kidney worm interferon epsilon viral Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 250
Answer: Babesiosis, due to a species other than B. microtiThank you all for the comments! Most of you realized that there was something special about this case given the classic morphologic features of babesiosis (with many tetrads/maltese cross forms), supportive clinical history, and yet repeatedly negative PCR tests for B. microti. (The fact that I chose this as the 250th case probably also let you know that there was something unusual about it!) As some of you mentioned, the blood film results are diagnostic for babesiosis, regardless of the PCR results, and therefore further work-up i...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 16, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Receptor for new coronavirus-EMC identified
Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, which means that they must enter a cell to reproduce. As virions are too large to diffuse passively across the plasma membrane, cellular pathways for uptake of extracellular materials provide entry routes. The first step in entry is adherence of virus particles to the membrane, an interaction mediated by binding to one or more receptor molecules on the cell surface. Identification of cell receptors for viruses is an important objective because their study may lead to information about how the virus enters the cell, how it is targeted to specific tissues, and how it causes disea...
Source: virology blog - March 14, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information cell receptor coronavirus CoV-EMC dipeptidyl peptidase 4 DPP4 SARS viral Source Type: blogs

Sign up: SMBE Satellite Mtg. on Eukaryotic-Omics 4/29-5/2 at #UCDavis
Going to be good: Eukaryotes | SMBE Satellite Meeting on Eukaryotic -Omics - April 29 to May 2, UC Davis Conference Center No bias here - given that it is organized by Holly Bik in my lab and it is at UC Davis. The lineup of speakers is great and the topic is timely. So sign up ... Speakers: Rachel AdamsUC BerkeleyGroundtruthing next-gen sequencing for microbial ecology: is beta diversity robust to errors in pyrosequencing? Nicholas A. BokulichUC DavisRegional Patterns in Grape Fungal Consortia Define Wine Fermentation Communities Sara BrancoUC BerkeleyFungi at a small-scale: spatial zonation of fungal ass...
Source: The Tree of Life - March 13, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs

Atherosclerosis of the Soul
As you may recall, my daughter, Dolly, is a medical student in at a Big (read: expensive) school in the Midwest. She's now in her third year, experiencing the joys of the clinical rotations.Dolly has seen the usual suffering one observes in a hospital, particularly in the teaching institutions, and has had to learn to deal with her own internal reactions to the pain, sorrow, and even stupidity of the patients. Many times these past few months, she has called me in a state somewhere between tears and laughter, quite able to understand the science of what she saw that day, but wondering how to react and respond to the patien...
Source: Dalai's PACS Blog - March 12, 2013 Category: Radiologists Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 249
Only 1 more week until we get to case 250! We're almost also at our 6-year anniversary. My first post was on March 25, 2007. Time flies... I'm still accepting suggestions if you have a special parasite that you would like to see for Case 250.Now on to this week's case - another donation by Florida Fan with a story to go with it:"While checking the air conditioner outside a rental property for a friend, we were swarmed with these (insert identification here). While they barely measured 2mm in length, they had no difficulty jumping up to our knees and at least an inch or two higher. The blood meal is still eviden...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 10, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 249
Answer: As stated by Eagleville, "Jumpin' Jehosaphat! It's a flea. Sez me."This is indeed a flea, an insect of the order Siphonaptera. Adult fleas are characterized by their laterally flattened wingless bodies, long legs designed for jumping, and tube-like mouthparts for feeding on blood from their host. The presence of both genal and pronotal combs (shown below) with more than 5 "teeth" on the genal comb allow this flea to be identified as either Ctenocephalides felis or C. canis, the cat and dog flea respectively. Identification to the species level is based on more subtle char...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 9, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

2013 FASEB Summer Research Conference “Microbial Pathogenesis: Mechanisms of Infectious Disease”
Registration is now open for the 2013 FASEB Summer Research Conference “Microbial Pathogenesis: Mechanisms of Infectious Disease” that will be held in Snowmass, Colorado July 21-26, 2013. The current schedule of invited speakers is attached here. An important feature is that 16 short talks remain to be chosen from submitted abstracts, so there is ample room to be included on the program. See the program here: 2013 FASEB PROGRAM AGENDA-July 21-26 2013 Snowmass CO and the FASEB SRC site The history of this unique meeting is that it strives to be truly cross-disciplinary. It is attended by ~ 100+ bacteriologist...
Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics - March 5, 2013 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Jason Stajich Tags: conferences & courses Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 248
Dear Readers,We are approaching the 250th Case! I think that #250 should be extra special and therefore I will be looking through all of my archives for something really fun. If any of you have any suggestions for a case you'd like to see, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.Now, on to this week's case, donated by Florida Fan:(a bit of a challenging case)The following were seen in a stool specimen from a 3 year old male. No other history was provided. Identification? The images were taken at 40x magnification, so each each mark on the scale bar represents 2.5 microns (eggs measure approxim...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 4, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 248
Answer: Eggs of Macracanthorhynchus sp., one of the "thorny-headed" worms causing human acanthocephaliasis. The main Macracanthorhynchus species that infects humans is M. hirudinaceous, although a second species, M. ingens, can also rarely infect humans (there have been a few case reports), and the eggs of the two cannot be differentiated microscopically. Humans typically become infected following ingestion of larvae in the intermediate insect host - usually hydrophilid or scarabaeoid beetles for M. hirudinaceous and milipedes for M. ingens. I tend to agree with Anonymous that the child was mor...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 3, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

This Week in microbiology, parasitism, and virology
In the past five days we released three science shows on the TWi* network. On This Week in Microbiology (TWiM) episode #51, Vincent, Michael, and Elio meet up with Hazel Barton to talk about cave microbiology. On This Week in Parasitism (TWiP) episode #51, special guest Anthony A. James joins Vincent and Dickson to discuss how mosquitoes can be genetically modified to control infectious diseases. On This Week in Virology (TWiV) episode #222, the complete TWiV team discusses the amazing finding that cyclic GMP-AMP synthase is a cytosolic innate immune DNA sensor. Thanks for listening. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - March 3, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Microbiology This Week in Parasitism This Week in Virology cyclic GAMP cyclic GAMP synthase innate immune DNA sensor STING viral virus Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 247
A businessman recently returned from India with recurring fevers and malaise. The following were seen on peripheral blood films. Identification? (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE)Giemsa stain, 1000x original magnification (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 25, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 247
Answer: Infection with Plasmodium vivaxThere was a lot of great discussion on this case! The definitive features for identification as some readers pointed out were:1. Enlarged infected RBCs (compared to uninfected cells)2. Stippling seen in all forms (a.k.a. Schuffner's dots)3. "Ameboid" shaped of some trophozoites. The presence of stippling and enlarged size of the RBCs automatically puts this into the P. vivax/P. ovale category, and the next step is to differentiate between the 2 species. This can be done by considering the following features:P. vivax late stage trophozoites hav...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 24, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs

The Op-Ed: Entering The Golden Age Of Big Data
As drug development and diagnostics increasingly converge, the advent of personalized medicine is increasing all the time. Of course, we are not quite there yet, but the advent of electronic medical records and the genome are inching us closer all the time. But this poses challenges, of course, and Ted Driscoll, who heads the digital healthcare team at Claremont Creek Ventures, enthuses over the possibilities… One of the interesting facts we live with today is that most of the diseases we confront are largely because of our success at lifespan extension and simultaneous increase in per capita food production. It’s ...
Source: Pharmalot - February 20, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized companion diagnostics Electronic Medical Records Genomes Personalized Medicine Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 246
The following was sent to the parasitology laboratory for identification:The accompanying fluid was centrifuged and the pellet was examined microscopically, revealing the following object. If measures approximately 60 microns in greatest dimension.Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 18, 2013 Category: Pathologists Source Type: blogs