Busy week so I am dumping some fun cases all at once. Found in a wet mount body fluid exam. Source: liver cyst, aspirate contents This is a lob-ball, but always fun. Dx? How did the patient acquire this? #parasitology ARUP Laboratories Bobbi Pritt, MD

Wow! Evidence of cross protection from the Neisseria meningitidis vaccine and Neisseria gonorrhea!

#MicroRounds (Day 993): "color me impressed" #FungalFriday A fantastic isolate of Aspergillus versicolor, w/ beautiful yellow-suede, green peak colonies. Along w/ loose, biseriate heads, seeing Penicillium-like heads is completely normal for this species #ASMClinMicro #IDTwitter

Diagnostic utility of oropharyngeal swabs as an alternative to lower respiratory tract samples for PCR-based syndromic testing in patients with community-acquired pneumonia tinyurl.com/4yn9cxwx ASM

Loved this story in The The Guardian about the women building the Maternal Center of Excellence and a better future for Sierra Leone. Very proud of the work Partners In Health and Build Health International do to work in such deep partnership with the communities they serve. theguardian.com/global-develop…

#MicroRounds (Day 994): "jarring" Ascaris lumbricoides arrived to the lab in a handy Mason jar! These are found when coughed up or passed in stool. Close examination would show 3 "lips" and, if male, a curled tail. Spread by ingesting fertilized eggs from the soil #IDTwitter

Current Pyuria Cutoffs Promote Inappropriate Urinary Tract Infection Diagnosis in Older Women 🔓 Open Access bit.ly/3CTNevT

Growing up, my mom would bottle apples and pears. Parasitologists store other things in jars. 😁

Clinicians: Consider malaria diagnosis in patients with an unexplained cause of fever, particularly in areas where locally acquired malaria has occurred. Quick diagnosis & treatment can prevent severe disease & death & limit ongoing spread. Learn more: bit.ly/mm7236a1

#MicroRounds (Day 995): “spit take” A video #microrounds today. Gram stain of a respiratory culture sample viewed on high power (100x, oil immersion). Bacteria everywhere but we rejected it for culture. Epithelial cells & no PMN? It’s oral/URT flora. Spit in a cup! #IDTwitter

#MicroRounds (Day 996): "late arrival" Leg wound bacterial culture was finaled & shelved on day 5. Our lab does quality checks to verify how techs report cultures. Lo & behold, our specialist noticed this late-growing Fusarium that would've been missed! #ASMClinMicro #IDTwitter

#MicroRounds (Day 997): "clap back" From a genital culture on a urethral swab specimen, neutrophils and GNDC seen on direct Gram stain and confirmed by growth on MTM agar, and by only oxidizing (not fermenting!) glucose: it's Neisseria gonorrhoeae #ASMClinMicro #IDTwitter

I wear another hat as Emerging Public Health Crises director. Lots of partnerships with reference labs & public health/CDC over the years. Ben Bradley & I just published this work for anyone interested in the processes and considerations for EUA assays. authors.elsevier.com/a/1hj-R9Cms9Ox…

Spooky season is upon us 🍁🎃👻💀🍂 Name that siderophore… #Halloween #clinicalmicrobiology #itsfallyall #path2path #uabpathology #bacteriology

It's official! XBB boosters for all. CDC Recommends Updated COVID-19 Vaccine for Fall/Winter Virus Season cdc.gov/media/releases…

#MicroRounds (Day 998): "nucleation" 2 of 2 blood culture *sets* (not bottles) growing a non-motile spindly GNR? May be Fusobacterium. This F. nucleatum grew in bundles & clusters, possibly related to its reported aggregation/plaque formation ability. #ASMClinMicro #IDTwitter

This organism is XDR Shigella sonnei. The black colonies on XLD are H2S producing Citrobacter freundii- normal enteric flora.