Case #208 – July, 2007
A 29-year-old Peace Corp volunteer returned to the United States from Malawi with symptoms that included mild gastrointestinal cramping and intermittent blood in his urine. He sought medical care and the physician ordered a battery of tests including ova and parasite examinations on stool and urine specimens. Figure A shows what was observed on a wet mount of urine sediment. The object was approximately 150 micrometers in length. What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria?
Figure A
Images presented in the DPDx case studies are from specimens submitted for diagnosis or archiving. On rare occasions, clinical histories given may be partly fictitious.
DPDx is an educational resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention, control, and treatment visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.