Microbiology / Infectious Disease

Parasites can be pretty: pretty cute, pretty awesome, and sometimes pretty creepy. This article is part one of a five-part series featuring some of Dr. Bobbi Pritt's "freaky favorites," ranked from 1 (not too scary) to 5 (bad-news bugs). Part five features bad-news bugs that spread malaria.

Parasites can be pretty: pretty cute, pretty awesome, and sometimes pretty creepy. This article is part one of a five-part series featuring some of Dr. Bobbi Pritt's "freaky favorites," ranked from 1 (not too scary) to 5 (bad-news bugs). Part four features "love bugs."

Parasites can be pretty: pretty cute, pretty awesome, and sometimes pretty creepy. This article is part one of a five-part series featuring some of Dr. Bobbi Pritt's "freaky favorites," ranked from 1 (not too scary) to 5 (bad-news bugs). Part three features a "beaver fever” creature.

Parasites can be pretty: pretty cute, pretty awesome, and sometimes pretty creepy. This article is part one of a five-part series featuring some of Dr. Bobbi Pritt's "freaky favorites," ranked from 1 (not too scary) to 5 (bad-news bugs). Part two features scalp explorers—lice!

Robin Patel, M.D., Chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently participated in the American Society for Microbiology's "Meet the Microbiologist" podcast to discuss her work on prosthetic joint infections and how metagenomics is changing infectious disease diagnostic procedures.

Parasites can be pretty: pretty cute, pretty awesome, and sometimes pretty creepy. This article is part one of a five-part series featuring some of Dr. Bobbi Pritt's "freaky favorites," ranked from 1 (not too scary) to 5 (bad-news bugs). Part one features ascaris worms.

Now in its second year of a five-year initiative to better understand and detect arboviruses in Belize, the IMPACTS (Integrated Mayo Clinic Program for Arbovirus Community health education Training and Surveillance) project has expanded its focus to include tick-borne infections in addition to mosquito-borne diseases, like Zika and dengue. IMPACTS is a four-tiered project that is a joint effort with Mayo Clinic, the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, and the Belize Ministry of Health.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Robin Patel, M.D., will discuss the bacteria that cause pertussis, also known as whooping cough. Pertussis is highly contagious and spreads rapidly through families, schools, and hospitals. While adults and children may have relatively mild symptoms, the disease can be deadly for infants and newborns.

The use of mud or wet clay as a topical skin treatment or a poultice is a common practice in some cultures and the concept of using mud as medicine goes back to earliest times. Now Mayo Clinic researchers and their collaborators at Arizona State University have found that at least one type of clay may help fight disease-causing bacteria in wounds, including some treatment-resistant bacteria.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Elitza Theel, Ph.D., will discuss diagnostic testing options for patients with suspected neuroinvasive Lyme disease or Lyme neuroborreliosis.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, answers questions about the rat lungworm.

The Washington Post recently reported on hookworms burrowing into a teenager's skin during a trip to Florida. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services at Mayo Clinic, commented on the two main types of hookworm: human hookworms and animal, or "zoonotic," hookworms.

On a recent tick drag with Minnesota Department of Health researchers, Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, talked about testing for tick-borne diseases.