Basic Course in Parasitology

Transmission of diseases by parasites, Route of Infection

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:33:00 +0000

1. Parasites act as a disease carrier - which is an important cause of infection to other human.

2. Animals / Nest - can also become the source of infection.

3. Transmission occured through direct contact or indirect contact through food, soil, water or through arthropod vectors and other animals.

4. Congenital transmission is the transmission from infected pregnant mother to her fetus.

Route of infection

Human can become infected by parasites through:
1. food and drinks

2. Skin penetration

3. Insect bites or arthropods

Life Cycle of Parasites

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:27:00 +0000

Life Cycle of Parasites

1. Parasites need to adjust itself with the host's body and with the host's outer environment.

2. A large part of parasites become mature inside the human body, as such, human is called the definitive host for the parasite. Definitive host also mean Last host.

3. Man can become an accidental host, intermediate host or paratenic host.

4. It is very important to know the life cycle of all human parasites so that we can know how to prevent and control it.

Distribution of Parasites, Life Cycle

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:17:00 +0000

The distribution of parasites depends on a few factors:

1. Its host - to complete its life cycle.
2. Ways how it will free itself from the host.
3. Surrounding / environment which supports and helps the parasite outside its host.
4. Parasites that have a simple lifecycle has broader distribution than those parasites that have complex lifecycle.
5. Socio-economic situation of citizen also influence the distribution of parasites that infest man.
6. Lack of education about sanitary, hygiene and eating habits.
7. Certain places where the temperature and humidity is suitable for development and reproduction of parasites, will have more amount of parasites.

Parasites that are of Importance to Human

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:55:00 +0000

There are 3 groups or phylum of parasites that are important to humans:

1. Phylum Protozoa - Unicellular organisms.
2. Phylum Helminthes - Worms that live as parasites.
3. Phylum Arthropods - Insects and Invertebrates organisms.

Scientific Nomenclature:

Protozoa: (unicellular organisms)
Heminth: (multicellular organisms)
Arthropods: (multicellular organisms)

1. Protozoa

Protozoa can be divided further into
a. Amoeba (Entamoeba histolytica, E. coli) - move with pseudopodium
b. Flagellates (Giardia lamblia) - move with flagella
c. Ciliates (Balantidium coli) - move with cilia
d. Coccidian (Toxoplasma gondii) - move with multiplication of cells

2.Helminth

Helminths also can be divided further into
a. Nematodes (round worm, Ascaris lumbricoides)
b. Platyhelminthes
i. Cestodes - tape worms (Taenia sp)
ii. Trematodes - ring worms (schistosoma sp)

3. Arthropods

Arthropods can be divided further into
a. Insects (mosquito)
b. Invertebrates (maggots)

These are the three most common parasites that infests humans.

Introduction to Medical Parasitology: Some Important Terms

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Before we move on deeper into the subject of medical parasitology,
Let us study first some important terms in Medical Parasitology.

Parasites are organisms that lives on the surface or in the body of other organisms temporarily or permanently, and they acquire food from the host.

Ectoparasites: Parasites that lives on the body surface of the host and cause infestations.

Endoparasites: Parasites that lives in the body of the host and cause infections.

Obligate parasites: Parasites that cannot complete its lifecycle without the host.

Facultative parasites: Parasites that are able to complete its lifecycle as a parasite or as a free-living organism.

It is important to note that :
1. Parasites are smaller than the host.
2. Parasites has a shorter lifespan.
3. Parasites has a higher breeding potential.

An Introduction to Parasitology

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:21:00 +0000

Parasitology is the study of parasites that causes diseases to humans and animals, which is their hosts.

Parasites are not merely just mites, worms, or lices, but it also involves protozoas
and many more organisms which is unknown to ordinary human.

According to wikipedia.com "Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life. This means it forms a synthesis of other disciplines, and draws on techniques from fields such as cell biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, genetics, evolution and ecology"

True as it is, parasites not only pose dangers to humans but to the environment as well. If not controlled, it will cause major problems to societies as a whole.

There are several fields of parasitology which are:
1.1 Medical parasitology
1.2 Veterinary parasitology
1.3 Structural parasitology
1.4 Parasite ecology
1.5 Taxonomy and phylogenetics

But what I am of interest here is Medical Parasitology.

I Hope this blog will help you a bit to know about parasitology.

Parasitology

noreply@blogger.com (JamesM) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:09:00 +0000

This blog is dedicated to give information about all people about the importance of knowledge in parasitology for themselves