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Case #276 – May, 2010

The DPDx Team received stained stool smears from the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory for Entamoeba identification. The patient was a 12-year-old refugee from Myanmar who had also traveled to Malaysia. The patient’s stool had been collected in sodium acetate-acetic acid-formalin (SAF) and sent to the state laboratory for processing. Figures AF show what was observed at 1000x magnification on a smear stained with iron hematoxylin. What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria?

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This case, and the specimen from which images were taken, are courtesy of the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory.

Images presented in the DPDx case studies are from specimens submitted for diagnosis or archiving. On rare occasions, clinical histories given may be partly fictitious.

DPDx is an educational resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention, control, and treatment visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.