The Dispensary

I've been studying a lot for our upcoming exams, but I've still had enough time to get some medicine from The Dispensary.

NYC Public Health and Human Rights Event Dec 5th

I wish I could be in New York on December 5th for this Public Health and Human Rights event sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Physicians for Human Rights. The speakers will discuss progress since the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and the many challenges that remain. The list of speakers and the panel discussion topics look promising. It should be an interesting afternoon. The full program and list of speakers is here.

Giardia Trophozoites

Giardia protoza can cause chronic diarrhea in hikers and travellers who drink contaminated water. The trophozoite attaches to the mucosa of the small bowel, preventing nutrients from being absorbed into the bloodstreem. To my eye, the trophozoites look like cartoon characters. At right, a Kohn stain, below left, a giemsa stain (pics from CDC DPDx).

Practice quiz

Try your hand at three questions that were on our Vector Biology Revision Quiz.
Hit the "comment" button at the end of the post to see the answers.

Q #1: What is this?


Q #2: Pic at left. Which mosquitoes may commonly be associated with this environment? What mosquito-born infections may be transmitted by these vectors?



Q#3: Which two insect vectors breed in this environment (pic below)? What diseases do they transmit?

World Trip Practical

In our lab practical yesterday we were assigned the stool sample of a patient who took a trip around the world. He came back to Liverpool with 22 gastrointestinal parasites. I was only able to identify 10 out of 22 species in 45 minutes. My paper was graded "average marks," which is english for C+, I believe.

Afterwards, they told us the stool contained:

Bastocystis hominis
Entamoeba coli
Entamoeba histolytica/dispar
Endolimax nana (below left)
Chilomastix mesnili
Giardia duodenalis (below right)
Iodamoeba butschilii
Taenia species
Diphyllobothrim latum
Hymenolepis nana
Schistosoma mansoni
Schistosoma japonicum
Opisthorchid group
Paragonimus westermani (above left)
Fasciola
Ascaris lumbricoides
Trichuris trichiura (above right)
Capillaria philippinensis
Hookworm
Enterobius vermicularis
Strongyloides stercoralis larve

International Night

One of the biggest nights of the year for the liverpool DTM&H course is International Night, a multiculti food and entertainment extravaganza. Students dress up in traditional dress from their country of origin, bring typical foods to a potluck dinner, and entertain fellow students with music and dance from their country of origin. The American contingent was weak; I wore jeans and brought a bottle of bourbon. The other three were just as half-hearted. The Germans outdid themselves with a marzipan and traditional cookie desert table. The Indians coreographed an elaborate Bollywood number. Below, three Scot Internists. At left above, Nigerian, Indian, and Italian pediatrician trio.

Congo

The BBC world service has a lot of information about what's happening in Congo. Warning: It's upsetting.