Thursday, April 4, 2013

Blind Leading the Blind


This image shows young children in West Africa leading blind adults. The first symptom of disease is generalized itching with inflammatory papules, nodules, and plaques. The etiology of the blindness can be seen on slit-lamp examination:
Patients often have subcutaneous nodules 0.5-3cm in diameter over their iliac crests and pelvic girdle. They occasionally have inguinal lymphadenopathy.

Challenge: What's this disease seen commonly in endemic populations but rarely in travelers?

First image shown under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License. Second image shown under Fair Use.

3 comments:

Alex said...

river blidnness?

webhill said...

Another parasit question for the veterinarians who sit through interminable parasit lectures! I'm thinking this is onchocerciasis/river blindness.

Craig said...

yes! nice call guys...this was definitely a hard one
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Blind Leading the Blind

This is onchocerciasis, also called river blindness, caused by the filiarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. It is transmitted by the blackfly vector that breeds near fast-flowing streams and rivers. Slit-lamp exam shows microfilariae in the anterior chamber; the image shows punctate keratitis with dead microfilariae.

Sources: UpToDate; Wikipedia.