Introduction to medically Important Parasites Flashcards
Parasitic disease where a vaccine is available:
Malaria, available for people in areas where malaria is endemic
Which country has the highest incidence of the roundworm strongyloides?
Australia
What are parasites?
Eukaryote pathogenic or commensal organisms
What is the problem with eukaryotic parasite diseases?
They are very similar to human cells so drugs can be toxic to humans as well
What are direct parasite life cycles?
Only one host in life cycle
What are indirect parasite life cycles?
Two or more hosts required
What are the types of parasite life cycles?
Direct
Indirect
They can undergo both sexual and asexual reproduction (usually in definitive host)
What are the types of hosts that parasites can live in?
Definitive/primary host
Reservoir host
Secondary/intermediate host
What are the modes of transmission of parasite infections?
Direct
Food/water borne
Via vector/intermediate host
What happens in the intermediate host?
Can be just mechanical transmission or several important life-cycle stages can take place here.
What is the efficacy of the RTS,S/AS01 (Mosquirix) vaccine?
26%
What is leishmanisation?
Inoculating live parasites in the buttock to prevent leishmaniasis disease
What are the types of disease causing parasites?
Single celled
Intracellular
Extracellular
What type of evolution was required for pathogenic parasites to form?
Co-evolution
What is the most common protozoan parasitic disease?
Trichomonas vaginalis (200 million cases detected worldwide)
What kind of condition does Trichomonas vaginalis cause?
An STD
What kind of pathogens are acanthamoeba and naegleria fowleri?
Protozoan parasites causing uncommon but deadly conditions.
What is the disease caused by naegleria fowleri called?
Primary amoebic encephalitis
What is the survival rate of naegleria fowleri infection?
No one has survived it (95% fatality even with treatment) Very rare with 340 cases recorded since the 1960s
What common parasites are water borne?
Giardisis (relatively benign)
Toxoplasmosis (also benign and present in a huge percentage of the population)
Amoebiasis
Blantidiasis
Cryptosporidiosis
What common parasites are caused by vector borne protozoan infections?
Malaria
Babesiosis
Leishmaniasis
Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi
Sleeping sickness (trypanosoma brucei gambiensie/rhodesiense)