14 Blood Flagellates Flashcards
Causative agent of leishmaniasis
Leishmania donovani (most important)
L major
L brasiliensis
Small, dark teardrop-shaped
Motile due to presence of flagella
Leishmania amastigotes
Vector of leishmaniasis
Sandfly
Sandfly
Endemic in old-world countries (Europe, Asian and African countries)
Plebotomus
Sandfly
Endemic in new-world countries (America)
Lutzomiya
Primary reservoir hosts of Leishmania
Dogs (L. infantum)
Humans (L. donovani, L.tropica)
Modes of transmission of Leishmania
Blood-borne: Blood transfusion Wound contamination Exposure to contaminated samples Vertical transmission
Infective stage of Leishmania
Promastigotes
What ingests the promastigotes as they enter the bloodstream
Macrophage
Promastigotes in the macrophages will become ____, which will reproduce via binary fission
Mastigotes
Also known as Baghdad ulcer, Delhi boil, Bouton d’ Orient
Least severe form of leishmaniasis
Symptoms include craters and erosions
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL)
Most common species that cause CL
L. major
Others include L. tropica, L. infantum
Mostly seen in South America
Caused by L. braziliensis
Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL)
Skin ulcers in MCL
Chiclero ulcers
AKA Parrot’s beak or Camel nose
Massive tissue destruction of the mucus membranes of the mouth and nose
Espundia
Morbidity is higher compared to MCL and CL
Affects big area of the body, but can also be found in localized areas of the skin
Resembles lepromatous leprosy
Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL)
What causes DCL
L. aethiopica
L. mexicana
Symptoms of DCL
Disseminated and chronic skin lesions
Most serious form of leishmaniasis
Has more than 95% mortality
Affects visceral organs
Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL)
Etiologic agents of VL
L. donovani
L. chagasi
Double quotidian fever
Weight loss
Prominent hepatomegaly, splenomegaly
Anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia
VL
Kala azar
Diagnosing leishmaniasis
Direct visualization Freeze-dried direct agglutination test rK39 Dipstick Latex agglutination urine test Leishmanin (Montenegro) skin test
Primary confirmatory diagnosis
Gold standard for confirming leishmaniasis
Direct visualization
Direct visualization uses tissue aspirate from:
Spleen
Bone marrow
Lymph nodes
Direct visualization is unsuitable for filed use because:
Invasive
Low sensitivity
Detects antibodies
Rapid diagnostic test, hence, used in field
Freeze-dried direct agglutination test (DAT)
Based on recombinant antigen of Leishmania parasite
Being investigated for use in active case detection
rK39 Dipstick
Detects Leishmania antigens
Used among patients who have a compromised immune response
Latex agglutination urine test
Rapid diagnostic test used to detect exposure
Used for CL and MCL
Similar to an allergy test (PPD), wherein you inject an antigen and wait for delayed hypersensitvity region
Leismanin (Montenegro) skin test
Immunity against further infection can be attained
Leishmanization
Three methods of leishmanization
Intentional biting
Pus inoculation
Cultured promastigotes
Natural immunization
Intentional biting
Gets pus draining form lesion and inoculate into another person
if person is healthy enough, he will develop antibodies
Pus inoculation
Live attenuated vaccination
Cultured promastigotes