Intro material Flashcards
what is a parasite
an organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host
what is a host
any organism on/in which a parasite spends a part or all of its life cycle and from which it derives its nourishment and/or receives protection
what is pathology
harm done to the host
what are the factors that affect pathology
hosts health status, size of parasite, number of parasites, parasites location or migratory pattern
why do we care about parasite/host relationships
with understanding there can be proper diagnosis of infections, effective treatment and control
what is epidemiology
study of all ecological aspects of a disease to explain its transmission, prevalence, incidence, and distribution
what is prevalence
number of cases of a disease at a given time
what is incidence rate
number of new cases of a disease per unit time
what is morbidity rate
number of people who contracted a disease during a given period of time
what is mortality rate
a measure of the number of deaths by a cause or in a population
what is the number one killer globally of parasites
plasmodium (malaria)
why do usa citizens have low parasitic infections
good hygiene, good water systems, education, climate
why are more people in usa getting parasitic infections
growing popularity of outdoor adventure, immigrants from less developed countries, world is becoming a global village
what are the 7 focus points in medical parasitology
morphology, life cycle, epidemiology, transmission, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and control
what are the phyla of the metazoan helmenths
nematoda, platyhelmenthes
