This Week in Parasitism

The TWiPanosomes solve the case about the Young Woman who Went to Belize, and relate how sandfly saliva skews the immune response and increases risk of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Sandfly exposure and risk of cutaneous leishmaniasis (J Inf Dis) TWiP 14: Leishmania Image is L. longipalpis (credit) Letters read on TWiP 96 Case study for TWiP 96 Daniel's patient for this week is male patient referred for consultation by OB-GYN: his wife is pregnant, has been admitted and is about the give birth. It is her first pregnancy. There are concerns about the husband's skin problem and whether it is a threat to his pregnant wife. No lesions on woman, husband recently developed itchy skin problem on his hands. Bilateral. Small papules on webs of fingers, brown lines, blood clots at ends, has clearly scratched the lesions. Skin between fingers is involved. Travels, often stays in cheap hotels. Beds not clean. Last trip 1 month before symptoms. Midwest travel. Family history of heart disease. Sales occupation. No animal exposure. Travels to medium to large cities. Send your diagnosis to twip@twiv.tv Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel solve the case about the 33 year old Chinese male with watery diarrhea, and discuss whether arsenic in drinking water might lead to treatment failures for Leishmania infections. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: TWiP 17: Entamoeba histolytica Arsenic exposure and Leishmania treatment outcomes (PLoS NTD) TWiP 14: Leishmania Letters read on TWiP 95 This episode is sponsored by ASMGAP. Case study for TWiP 95 Daniel's patient for this week is a 28 yo single female, returns from beach vacation with new boyfriend. Two weeks in Central America (Belize). Often found secluded beaches. Good health, noticed upon her return had small nodules/papules on front of thighs. Thought were insect bites, became very itchy. Noticed serpiginous red lines forming, radiating out from bumps. Felt things moving in her skin. Benadryl did not help. Daniel say something similar occurs in Lima. Healthy, no allergies, surgeries, no relevant family history, using barrier contraception, sexually active. Only drinks alcohol socially. Boyfriend did not report symptoms. She did lie on sand, used thin fabric. Stayed in hotel. There were wild dogs on beach. During her stay she ate ceviche. No intestinal symptoms. Send your diagnosis to twip@twiv.tv Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel solve the case about the man from El Salvador, discuss the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors to treat onchocerciasis and filariasis. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Targeting filarial tyrosine kinases (J Inf Dis) Onchocerciasis on TWiP 24 Filariasis on TWiP TWiP 25 Image shows c-abl kinase bound to imatinib (red) Image credit What good are ticks? Letters read on TWiP 94 Case study for TWiP 94 Daniel's patient was seen in the clinic. He is a 33 yo chinese male, from Chinatown NYC, for several months on and off has had watery diarrhea, headaches. Tried reflexology, chiropractic therapy, with no results. Has traveled quite a bit, been in Chile (was there a few months before). Came to US when young. Grew up in the US. In Chile, has had many sexual partners, >50, of both sexes, also has done many drugs. Two years ago was diagnosed with chronic HIV, CD4 count 685, on ARVs triple therapy, virus loads are well controlled. Has had syphilis, nose job, no medication allergies. Lives with family. On exam, afebrile, looks well. Symptom onset a few months after last Chile visit. Is an addventurous eater. Send your diagnosis to twip@twiv.tv Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel solve their fishy tale, and present a new case study for your consumption. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Freezing and the quality of sushi (Clin Inf Dis) Anisakis biology (CDC) Image credit Letters read on TWiP 93 Case study for TWiP 92 April 2015 a 177 lb 5ft10in 39 yo man seen as outpatient in ID clinic, reports 2 y ago had issues with constipation on and off; throat hurts; feels closing when lies down. For several years has had skin irritation on upper chest and arms. Tried to donate blood, was rejected, told to see doctor. Emigrated to US from El Salvador 2002, married, reports no extramarital sex, smokes 2-3 cigs/day, now quit; had drinking issue in past, no more; was agricultural worker in rural part of El Salvador; has history of asthma, on a number of medicines, including steriod nasal spray, inhaler, no visual problems, healthy appearing, not allergic to medicines. Family history: mother heart attack and diabetes; father peptic ulcer disease. Send your diagnosis to twip@twiv.tv Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel discuss how fluctuation in the price of guinea pig food could help transmission of the agent of Chagas disease, and present a new case study for your consumption. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Ascaris on TWiP 21 Ascaris lumbricoides life cycle (jpg) Child with distended abdomen due to Ascaris (jpg) Bottlenecks and Chagas disease (Proc Biol Soc) Letters read on TWiP 92 Case study for TWiP 92 A 20 yo Japanese female student went to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain. nausea, had vomited. Had just enjoyed homemade sushi an hour or two previuosly. She prepared the sushi: rice, salmon, tuna rolls. Salmon was local, caught by boyfriend. Tuna from store, sushi grade. No past medical history, mother with anemia. Takes oral contraceptives. No toxic habits. No travel. Monogamous. Temp 100.2, bp 140/90, hr high 90s, breathing upper teens. Physical exam normal except appears distressed in pain, belly extended, tender in left upper quadrant. Friends ate sushi but no one else got sick. All guests ate both types of fish. Send your diagnosis to twip@twiv.tv Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel review how Viagra might be used to block transmission of Plasmodium falciparum, and introduce a new case study. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Malaria life cycle (jpg) cAMP regulates gametocyte infected erythrocyte deformability (PLoS Path) P. falciparum in bone marrow (Blood) Image credit Letters read on TWiP 91 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel discuss identification of an erythrocyte protein essential for invasion of Plasmodium falciparum, and introduce a new case study. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Dermatobia hominis (Wikipedia) Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte invasion (Science) Plasmodium life cycle (TWiP #10) Letters read on TWiP 90 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel reveal last week's case study and introduce a new one concerning a patient who traveled to Belize. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Neurocysticercosis (TWiP 6) Cysticercosis (CDC) Sarah Lane's neurocysticercosis Letters read on TWiP 89 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel discuss how a secreted protein from the protozoan parasite Theileria transforms its host cells via a cellular proto-oncogene. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Leishmania (TWiP #14) Transformation by a prolyl isomerase (Nature) Theileria.org Prolyl isomerase (Wikipedia) Image from Transformation & Oncogenesis Letters read on TWiP 88 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email

Vincent, Dickson, and Daniel review new insight into antigenic variation in trypanosomes, reveal the difficult solution to the last case study, and present another mystery for your solving. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Pinworm (CDC) Pinworm on TWiP #19 Dynamics of antigenic variation in T. brucei (Science) Image credit Letters read on TWiP 87 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email