An immigrant from Southeast Asia brings his six year old child to the doctor because of loose stools with some mucus and blood, especially at night. A CBC with differential shows a mild anemia with peripheral eosinophilia (15%). Exam shows rectal prolapse. The patient is at the lower end of normal with regards to growth and cognition. This is seen in the stool:
Challenge: What's your diagnosis?
Image is in the public domain.
Whipworm (Trichuris)??
ReplyDeletetrichuriasis
ReplyDeleteI will hand in my VMD if that isn't a trichuris spp (whipworm) :)
ReplyDeleteyup you got it!
ReplyDelete-
25% of the World Has This
The diagnosis of trichuriasis or whipworm (caused by nematode Trichuris trichiura) is made by stool examination of eggs; the image shows a 50x20 micro barrel shaped egg with a smooth thick wall and hyaline plugs. Treatment is with mebendazole or albendazole.
Sources: UpToDate; Wikipedia.