Parasites Flashcards
Giardia lamblia
Cause a foul-smelling fatty diarrhea, along with bloating and flatulence. Tranmitted via cysts in water. Trophozoite form looks like face with flagella.
Treat with metronidazole
Entamoeba histolitica
Causes a bloody diarrhea. Amoebas ingest RBCs. Can also cause liver abscess with a anchovy-paste consistency. Transmitted by cysts in water.
Treat with metronidazole, iodoquinol if asymptomatic
Cryptosporidium
Causes a profused watery diarrhea. Can devatate immunocompromised (AIDS).
Weakly acid fast.
Treat with nitazoxanide in immunocompetant
Toxoplasma gondii
Causes ring enhancing brain abscesses in HIV.
Can also cause congenital toxoplasmosis which is marked by chorioretinitis, hydrocephalus, and intracranial calcifications.
Infection via cysts in meat or oocytes in cat feces. Crosses placenta
Treat with sulfadiazine +pyrimethamine
Naegleria fowleri
Causes rapidly fatal meningoencephalitis. Swimming in fresh water, penentrate cribiform plate. Diagnosis with amoebas in spinal fluid.
Treat with amphotericin B
Trypanosoma brucei
Causes african sleeping sickness. Two forms :rhodiense and gambiense. Rhodiense is worse.
Causes enlarged lymph nodes, recurrent fever (antigenic variation), somnolence, coma.
Gotten via tse tse fly via painful bites.
Treat with suramin and melarsoprol
Plasmodium falciparum
Causes malaria with headache, fever, anemia, splenomegaly. Infects red blood cells that can enter brain and clog capillaries. Irregular fever patterns. Treat with chloroquine. Mefloquine or atovaquone/proguanil if resistant.
Plasmodium vivax/ovale
Causes malaria with headache, anemia, fever every other day (tertian). Dormant form in liver so must add primaquine to chloroquine to prevent recurrence. Test for g6pd deficiency first.
Plasmodium malariae
Causes quartan fever (every 3 days)
Babesia
Causes babesiosis: fever and hemolytic anemia. transmitted by ixodes scapularis.
Maltese cross confirms diagnosis.
Treat with atovaqone and azithromycin.
Trypanozoma cruzi
Causes chagas disease: dilated cardiomyopathy, megacolon, pseudoachalasia.
Trypanozoma cruzi
Causes chagas disease: dilated cardiomyopathy, megacolon, pseudoachalasia. Transmitted by reduuvid bug with a painless bite.
Treat with benznidazole or nifurtimox
Leishmania donovani
Causes visceral leishmaniasis. Spiking fevers, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia.
Transmitted by sandfly.
Treat with sodium stibogluconate/amphotericin B
Trichomonas vaginalis
Causes green frothy discharge, sexually transmitted only (can’t form cysts). Treat with metronidazole, treat partner too.
vaginitis (strawberry cervix)
Enterobius Vermicularis
Most common worm infection in US. Causes anal pruritus. Diagnose with scotch tape test. Treat with bendazoles
Ascaris lumbricoides
giant roundworm. Fecal oral transmission. Most common worm in world. Intestinal infection, obstruciton, lung irritation. Treat with bendazoles
Strongyloides stercoralis
Transmitted through skin, causes intestinal infection with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, epigastric pain. treat with albendazole or ivermectin
Ancylostoma duodenale/necator americanus
Hookworms that penetrate through skin attach in intestines, can cause microcytic anemia. Treat with bendazoles.
Onchocerca volvulus
Causes river blindness. Transmitted by river blackfly. Causes black skin nodules too. Treat with ivermectin.
Loa loa
Transmitted by mango fly, horse fly, deer fly. Causes worms in conjuntiva. Treat with diethylcarbamazine
Wuchereria bancrofti
Transmitted by mosquito and blocks lymphatics causing elephantiasis 9mo-1yr after bite. Treat with diethylcarbamazine.
Toxocara canis
Fecal oral tranmission. Causes visceral larva migrans
Trichenella spiralis
Gotten from undercooked pork. Enters into muscle. Causes periorbital edema too.
Trichenella spiralis
Gotten from undercooked pork. Enters into muscle. Causes periorbital edema too.
