In this latest Bugs and Drugs episode, we will discuss a very rare bacterial disease that primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract. However, it can affect other organs such as joints, heart and lungs. This infectious disease is known as Tropheryma whipplei or Whipple disease.

Your patient might present with chronic diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain and joint problems. To help you correctly diagnose this, you’ll need to take some biopsies and imaging to identify the T. whipplei bacterium. Next, the treatments that can be offered are prolonged antibiotic therapy and potential surgical intervention.

Join Dr. Niket Sonpal as he dives deep into this enigmatic world of Whipple’s disease.

January 29, 2024

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