Question:
A patient has gastrointestinal problems including abdominal pain and distension, bloody or mucus-filled diarrhea, and tenesmus with rectal prolapse. A stool ova and parasite exam reveals typical barrel-shaped eggs. The possible causative agent is:
A patient has gastrointestinal problems including abdominal pain and distension, bloody or mucus-filled diarrhea, and tenesmus with rectal prolapse. A stool ova and parasite exam reveals typical barrel-shaped eggs. The possible causative agent is:
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Barrel-shaped bipolar-plugged eggs plus rectal prolapse equal whipworm.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Campylobacter
- Clostridium difficile
- Giardia lamblia
- Trichuris
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The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: The decisive clue is the stool finding of barrel-shaped eggs with bipolar mucous plugs. This is the classic egg morphology of Trichuris trichiura (whipworm).
Step 2: Heavy whipworm infection causes abdominal pain, distension, mucoid or bloody diarrhea, and tenesmus. The hallmark in children is rectal prolapse, on which the worms may be seen.
Step 3: Rectal prolapse occurs because the thin anterior ends of the worms burrow into the rectal mucosa, loosen the epithelium, and weaken the supporting wall during repeated straining.
Step 4: Campylobacter and C. difficile are bacteria and do not produce parasite eggs, and Giardia produces cysts/trophozoites, not barrel-shaped ova. Hence the agent is Trichuris.
Step 2: Heavy whipworm infection causes abdominal pain, distension, mucoid or bloody diarrhea, and tenesmus. The hallmark in children is rectal prolapse, on which the worms may be seen.
Step 3: Rectal prolapse occurs because the thin anterior ends of the worms burrow into the rectal mucosa, loosen the epithelium, and weaken the supporting wall during repeated straining.
Step 4: Campylobacter and C. difficile are bacteria and do not produce parasite eggs, and Giardia produces cysts/trophozoites, not barrel-shaped ova. Hence the agent is Trichuris.
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