TWiP 147: The savvy physician tests the tissue

AmigosThe three amigos of parasitology solve the case of the New York Lawyer With A Foot Ulcer, and discuss a survey of rodents for the raccoon roundworm in California.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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Case Study for TWiP 147

Three year old boy, in tropical S. America, brought in by mother, says has been sick about a month. Previously healthy, 4 healty siblings, vaccines up to date, now has abdominal pain. Belly pain increases throughout day, poor appetite, constipated, has goat stools, pellets. Has had fever, seems swollen, face pale, urine dark, belly distended. Occasionally coughs. Living conditions: home has dirt floor where he spends most of day. On exam is febrile, doesn’t look well, no teeth, sleepy, not responsive, distended belly, pale, weight 13 kg. Diffuse scaly skin inflammation around perianal area, breakdown of skin around mouth. HIV, HTLV1 negative. Dogs, chickens, goats around, they come in house. Stool O&P sent out, contained something that gave diagnosis.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 146: Thus misspake Despommier

Fasciolopsis buski eggThe TWIPniks solve the case of the Man With Diarrhea and 100 Micron Objects In Stool, and discuss the reticulocyte receptor for Plasmodium vivax.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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Case Study for TWiP 146

27 yo male lawyer comes NY area to be seen, has 4 cm ulcer on right foot. Painless, has raised borders, minimal surrounding erythema. Going on for quite a while. Initially was papule, enlarged, ulcerated, this enlarged and has been more than 4 weeks. No past med probs, allergic to penicillin but just upset his stomach. No meds. Social habits: drinking. Own apt in NYC. Travel: 1 month before papule was whitewater rafting in Costa Rica, noticed when he got back. Wore sandals, got lots of insect bites. Afebrile, normal BP, fit athletic young man. Non tender lesion, base is red, white fibrous coating. Border raised but not undermined. No surrounding swelling, no eschar over wound, open non healing.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 145: Is it excreted or secreted?

Giardia secretomeThe Estimados Profesores of TWIP solve the case of the Man With Motile Objects, and reveal the secreted and excreted proteins of Giardia parasites.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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Case Study for TWiP 145

Male 40s, visiting NYC on business. Lives in Thailand, seeks medical attention for diarrhea and abdominal pain. Diarrhea is continuous, even at night. Feels swollen. Stool cultures come back negative. CBC reveals eosinophilia. Clinician orders stool O&P. See something in stool: large elliptical objects, over 100 microns.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 144: A blood-free snip

Trichinella pseudospiralisThe TWiPtomaniacs solve the case of the Boy With Visual Disturbances and Itching, and discuss identifying secreted and excreted proteins of Trichinella parasites.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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Case Study for TWiP 144

Individual in 30s, male, presented to physician with stomach upset, uncomfortable feeling in legs. Has motile objects in stools. From Vancouver BC, was eating salmon, reports was either dried/smoked or marinated. Not sure if this is relevant. Brought motile objects to physician.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 143: There’s a lot of worms out there

Ascaris adultsThe TWiPians solve the case of the Woman With Anemia, Eosinophila, and a Worm in Her Intestine, and discuss a study on the function and druggability of two malarial aspartate proteases.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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Case Study for TWiP 143

From 1990s seen by a colleague, boy late teens, initially presented to ER in US chief complaint, visual disturbances and itching preventing sleep. Immigrated from Oaxaca, searching for work. Lived in modest dwelling with dirt floors, no running water, got from local river. Reports dogs, farm animals, many insects. On exam: tender nodules on head, skin irritated from scratching, small punctate lesions on right cornea. Is referred to specialists. Ophthalmologist called in, referred for further diagnostics.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 142: Just a virus, go home

Dickson DespommierThe TWiPsids solve the case of the Guatemalan Positive for Rhinovirus, and reveal how to kill all African trypanosomes with a primate apolipoprotein.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. Get $30 off your first delivery and FREE SHIPPING by going to blueapron.com/twip.

Case Study for TWiP 142

Woman in 50s, immigrant from rural area with limited resources. Admitted to hospital with iron deficient anemia and eosinophilia. In US. Sent for colonoscopy. Note long slender serpiginous motile object, recovered, 4.5 cm long, one end slender, other large and curled but not blunt. Send worm to parasitology lab for identification. What might fit description? Is this usually associated with eosinophilia? What about anemia, is severe or mild? Would this person have come from outside the US to acquire this, or could they have acquired the infection in the US.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 141: Paratransgenesis

Serratia marcescensThe TWiP Wataalamu solve the case of the One Year Old From Kenya With Moving  Skin Lesions, and describe how to make mosquitoes refractory to Plasmodium with engineered symbiotic bacteria.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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Case Study for TWiP 141

A 59 yo Spanish speaking female on Long Island originally from Guatemala. Goes to ER after returning from 10 day trip to visit friends and relatives in Guatemala and El Salvador with fever, cough, diffuse muscle aches, fatigue, chills. Respiratory pathogen panel done, positive for rhinovirus. Told that it’s just a virus, go home. 5 days later returns with fever and chills, pain in upper belly, feels constipated. Admitted. No past med/surg, no allergies, no significant family history, no meds. Works cleaning houses. Travel: spends most time in and around big cities, lots of exposure to animals, ate all local fare; conch ceviche, fresh eggs, flattened chicken dish. Elevated white count left shifted, neutrophils increased, eosinophils cleared; cultured Salmonella from blood. IV antibiotics given, gets better, about to go out the hospital door, when results of stool O&P comes back from initial admission. Observed: Entamoeba coli; Endolimax nana; Blastocystis hominis. Released to home, 2 weeks later feels fine.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 140: Blasting Blastocystis

Four_common_forms_of_Blastocystis_hominis_Valzn

Four common forms of Blastocystis hominis

The triple TWiP solve the case of the Peace Corp Veteran with Eosinophilia, and discuss the genome sequence of the hyper-prevalent parasitic eukaryote Blastocystis.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. Get $30 off your first delivery and FREE SHIPPING by going to blueapron.com/twip.

Case Study for TWiP 140

From Dr. Arthur Mumelo, northern Kenya. One-year-old girl. Brought by mother with skin lesions that developed a week prior. The lesions are five in total – on the forehead, neck, back, chest and right arm. The lesions look like boils/furuncles but keep changing size and appearance – like something is moving under the skin. They are painful and itchy. Child is breastfeeding well. No other complaints. Child was born at Nyahururu County Referral Hospital. Gets vaccinations at Melwa Health Centre (Rural), vaccinations are up to date. They live in a wooden house with a dirt floor, roofed with corrugated iron sheets. The house has two rooms. They sleep on raised beds. There is a big community dam in the neighborhood, with stagnant water throughout the year. They don’t use mosquito nets. They have reliable clean water supply from the government. They have one dog but the neighbors’ dogs also visit their compound and living area. They hang their clothes on the clothesline after washing; never dry their clothes on the grass. Clothes not hot-ironed. On Examination; Child is breastfeeding well, afebrile, no pallor, no jaundice, not in distress. Occipital lymphadenopathy; tender, mobile. Furuncles on the forehead, chest neck, back and right arm. They are 1-3cm in diameter and 0.5 cm high, tender, have a central punctum from which serosanguineous fluid is discharging.  This is a rural health centre – the only labs done are a peripheral blood film – which showed increased eosinophils and neutrophils. HIV test – negative.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 139: Eggsactly, ova and ova

FLAWAThe TWiPwalas solve the case of the Woman with a Worm in Her Eye, and discuss the role of nitric oxide in the resistance of rats to Schistosoma japonicum.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin


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This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. See what’s on the menu this week and get 3 meals free with your first purchase – WITH FREE SHIPPING – by going to blueapron.com/twip.

Case Study for TWiP 139

Seen at Columbia Medical Center, a crossover. Woman in 30s returns to US after 2 years in Peace Corp, Cameroon and Gabon. On medical exam 2 years earlier: eosiniphilia noted, no diagnosis reached. Now comes to NYC 2 years later to attend grad school, again eosinophilia noted. Asymptomatic.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

TWiP 138: Telmophages and the skin parasite landscape

TWiP
Lutzomyia longipalpis sandfly

A telmophage

The TWiPsters solve the case of the Child from DR with Poppy Seed Sized Things On His Head Hair Shafts, and reveal how the skin parasite landscape determines the infectiousness of Leishmania.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Daniel Griffin


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This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. See what’s on the menu this week and get 3 meals free with your first purchase – WITH FREE SHIPPING – by going to blueapron.com/twip.

Case Study for TWiP 138

New Yorker, female teenager from an outer boroughs, visual loss in right eye noted during routine eye exam. Not sure when started. Left is 20-20, otherwise feels fine. No surgeries, no noted medical history, no medications, in school, living with family, no toxic habits. Travel: had been upstate NY in past year. No pets. Defect in right eye pupillary reflex, pallor to optic nerve. Serologies: toxocara, HCV, syphilis, all negative. Dilated fundal exam: sees 1850 microns motile worm in the eye. Not on surface, not Loa Loa.

Send your case diagnosis, questions and comments to twip@microbe.tv

Music by Ronald Jenkees

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Christina Naula, Ph.D.


Daniel Griffin, M.D.,

Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D.


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