Case of the Week 584

By Bobbi Pritt, M.D. • March 18, 2020

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This week's fun case was generously donated by Dr. José Poloni, one of my Twitter buddies (@JoseTesser). The object below was found in the undergarments of a 35 year-old woman. No other history is provided. What's the identification? How would you sign this case out?

Read Dr. Pritt's blog, Parasite Wonders, and submit your answers, comments, and questions. Also, visit her website ParasiteWonders.com, which hosts an archive of classic images from cases Dr. Pritt posted going back to 2007 (in an easy-to-search "A through Z" format) and also offers a flashcard feature.

Answer to Case 584:

Dipteran fly pupa, possibly a fruit fly pupa (Drosophilidae); not a human parasite.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D.

Bobbi Pritt, MD, MSc, is a Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and the Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. She is also the Chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology. Her research interests are in clinical parasitology, vector-borne diseases and the pathology of infectious diseases.