H. nano is a very common parasite here. It eventually becomes a tape worm, so we prefer to find it quick and give it a good old dose of Metronidazole. Still works like a charm here.
Whipworm -
Whipworm is usually not found in Xela, but closer to the coast. One particular school had many students infected by this parasite. Most had taken a beach trip about a week or two before we collected their stool samples.
Mystery Parasite -
Zach found this parasite a while ago and had no idea what it was. He even described it in detail to our sister labratory, but they had no idea either. If any of you who are reading this know, please comment!!
Blastocyst hominis - the only pathological amoeba
Cryptosporidium
Some sources say crypto is pathologic and needs treatment whereas others say no. The sources that sat to treat describe a bad, giardia-like diarrhea that crypto can cause. We usually treat if there are a lot of them. Crypto is smaller than the other parasites (only 5um). It's the tiny ball of balls in the center of the slide.
Ascaris
This is one of the parasites we can see with a microsope. The ovum of ascaris is swallowed by someone and then develops into larva in the gut. The larva gets coughed up and then swallowed again. Once back in the guy, the larva turns into the lovely worm blow he microscopic ascaris ovum pic. The worms can perforate the intestines, causing peritonitis, or travel up into the lungs or stomachat which point the patient coughs them out. Aspiration is a major concern...but if we see them in time, the little guys are super easy to treat! Just a round of metronidazole does the trick just fine.
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