- Gambia. A mother asks for advice. Her daughter’s faeces contained several worms. You ask the length of the parasites. What do you think if the mother replies 30 cm, or 1 cm, or 3 cm?
- Is there a clinically important difference between Taenia solium and Taenia saginata? Is it possible to differentiate the eggs under a microscope?
- Congo. A 29-year-old man has been coughing for five weeks. There is eosinophilia. Sputum for acid-fast bacilli is negative. Your colleague asks whether the man ate crabs a few months ago. What diagnosis is he considering?
- Mexico. Epilepsy is common in the region where you work. Which parasitic cause needs to be ruled out? What would you advise as prevention?
- Brazil. A woman has had problems for one week with a swollen, puffy face, chiefly around the eyes. Do you consider trichinellosis, Chagas’ disease or nephrotic syndrome? What do you do? Are there simple tests which can help in your diagnosis?
- Vietnam. A man has diarrhoea. Examination of the faeces for parasites shows: "Countless eggs of Trichinella spiralis". What do you think and what do you do?
- Northern Thailand. You are asked if eating raw fish is dangerous. What is your answer, what are your reasons?
- Jamaica. A 15-year-old girl is suffering from anal itch. There are no haemorrhoids and repeated Scotch tape tests have shown no oxyurids. She has not noticed any Taenia proglottids. There are a few itching lines moving under the skin. What do you think and what do you do?
- Tobago (Trinidad). Which worms lead to important anaemia?
- Haiti. A girl has had fever for 2 months and is clearly emaciated. She coughs often. In the stools Ascaris eggs are observed. What do you think?
- If all the snails in an area are destroyed, will this have an effect on nematode, trematode or cestode infections?
- Do all the trematode infections transmitted by food involve hermaphrodite parasites?
- Farouk is a deeply devout Muslim and works as an archaeologist in rural Mexico, together with his German friend Jurgen and his American colleague John. Jurgen is a vegetarian and John likes his daily portion of meat. Can Farouk and Jurgen develop cysticercosis? Can John?
- See last question. If Farouk should develop cysticercosis, should he then ask himself whether he has sinned by eating "impure" pork?
- Lesotho. A Swiss family of 4 people. The father suffers regularly from anal itch. He has noticed oxyurids and taken mebendazole (Vermox®). After a month the same symptoms return. The whole family is now treated with Vermox®. However, there is another relapse after 4 weeks. Do you now consider resistance, exogenous re-infection or incomplete treatment?
- Congo. You suspect trichinellosis in a patient. A small muscle biopsy is surgically removed from the quadriceps. This muscle fragment is pressed between 2 glass slides. Can you look at the whole biopsy to find the encapsulated larvae with a simple magnifying glass or do you need a microscope?
- Bolivia. You are working in the northern Altiplano, between Lake Titicaca and the capital. This is a region with many animals (sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, horses, donkeys, llamas, alpacas). Would this information be important to explain the high incidence of fasciolasis?
