Albert Flashcards
What are protozoa?
Animal-like eukaryotes. Mostly free-living, some are pathogens. Prevalent in (sub)tropical regions. Can infect tissues/organs: intracellular parasites in cells, extracellular parasites in blood, intestine, urogenital system.
Which drugs are used for prophylaxis of malaria in areas without resistance?
Chloroquine or proguanil
Which drugs are used for prophylaxis of malaria in areas with some chloroquine resistance?
Proguanil + chloroquine.
Which drugs are used for prophylaxis of malaria in areas with chloroquine resistant P. falciparum? [3]
- mefloquine
- doxycycline
- Atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone)
Why is it difficult to create a malarial vaccine? [5]
- Difficult to grow enough pathogen for attenuated or killed-microbe vaccine.
- Natural immunity has not revealed specific antigens that provide protection.
- Some antigens exhibit genetic polymorphism
- Some antigens show temporal switching of expression - only expressed during one stage of life cycle.
- No good animal models for P. falciparum/vivax.
What are the symptoms of malaria?
cold stage/shivering, hot stage/fever, sweating stage. Other: headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, weakness, enlarged spleen.
What are the symptoms of severe malaria?
Abnormal behaviour.
Shock
Liver failure, jaundice.
Swelling/rupture of spleen
What does the ABCD for travellers in regards to malaria represent?
Awareness of risk
Bite prevention
Chemoprophylaxis
Diagnosis and treatment.
How is malaria diagnosed?
Blood smears examined by microscopy: sensitive, labour intensive.
Rapid diagnostic tests: detection of antigens/enzymes. (limited sensitivity)
Other ways: PCR, antibody detection, mass spectroscopy.
What is the immunochromatographic technique for malarial infection diagnosis?
- Sample (buffer plus blood) is mixed with labelled detection antibodies on a nitrocellulose strip.
- The sample + antibody migrates by capillary action across the strip.
- When recognised by immobile antibodies, a dark line appears due to high concentration of detection antibody.
What are ACTs?
Artemisinin-based combination therapies.
- rapid parasite clearance
- rapid resolution of symptoms
- active on blood stage of all 4 species
- reduce gametocyte carriage and hence transmission.
How does ACT work?
It reduces gametocyte carriage and hence transmission. Active on blood stage of all 4 species.
What is one example of a rapid diagnostic test for malaria?
BinaxNow Malaria test.
How many classifications of protozoa are there?
4.
What are the 4 classifications of protozoa?
Amoeba: move by pseudopodia.
Flagellates: move via flagella.
Ciliates: have cilia.
Apicomplexa: have apical complex, all are parasitic. Plasmodium, Toxoplasma.
What classification of protozoa are all parasitic?
Apicomplexa (sporozoa) Plasmodium, Toxoplasma.
What protozoal disease is most common?
Giardiasis, intestinal infection.
What causes Malaria?
Protozoal parasites.
From the genus plasmodium. 4 species that infect humans.
What species of plasmodium infect humans?
P. falciparum: tropics, Africa + SE Asia.
P. vivax: widely distributed, main cause of malaria outside of africa.
P.ovale: tropical africa, SE asia.
P. malariae: rare.
What is the main cause of malaria outside of africa?
P. vivax.
What causes the more severe and common form of malaria?
P. falciparum.
P. vivax.
P. ovale.
P. malariae.
What causes the more moderate and less common form of malaria?
In order of most common and most severe: P. falciparum. P. vivax. P. ovale. P. malariae.
How is malaria transmitted?
- Parasites injected within the saliva of blood-feeding female mosquitoes (anopheles sp.)
- Multiply in the liver, then infect RBCs.
- Mosquitoes the ingest parasites upon feeding on an infected host.
- The parasites go through a reproductive phase within the mosquito.
What are the mechanisms of action of the antimalarials?
- Inhibition mitochondrial metabolism: Atovaquone.
- Inhibition haem detoxification: chloroquine, lumefantrine, mefloquine
- Antifolate: proguanil, pyrimethamine, sulphadoxine.
- ATCs.
Which antimalarials inhibit haem detoxification?
Chloroquine
Lumefantrine
Mefloquine.
Which antimalarials inhibit mitochondrial metabolism?
Atovaquone
Which antimalarials are antifolate drugs?
Proguanil, Pyrimethamine, Sulphadoxine.
What are helminths?
Multicellular, suckers, hooks or plates for attachment. Partial life cycle in humans, tough cuticle so hard for immune system to eradicate. Blood flukes camouflage themselves by coating themselves with host molecules.