Parasitology Flashcards
What is medical parasitology?
Medical parasitology: the study of the parasites of man and their medical consequences
What is a parasite?
living organism requiring intimate prolonged contact with another living organism to meet some of its basic nutritional needs. In a more restricted definition, it refers to organisms that are not viruses, bacteria, fungi, rickettsia, or chlamydia and obviously include organisms of varying complexity from a unicellular protozoa to a complex multicellular helminths.
What is a host?
organism harboring a parasite
What is a definitive host ?
animal harboring the adult or sexually mature stage of the parasite
What is an intermediate host?
animal in which development occurs but in which adulthood is not reached
What is a life cycle?
for survival and reproduction reasons many parasites evolve through a number of morphologic stages and several environments or different hosts. The sequence of morphologic and environmental stages is referred to as the life cycle
What is a parasitic infection?
invasion by endoparasites (protozoa and helminths).
What is a parasitic disease?
invasion and pathology produced by endoparasites.
What is a parasitic infestation ?
external parasitism by ectoparasites (arthropods).
What are commensalisms?
the association of two different species or organism in which one is benefited and the other is neither benefited nor harmed. (e.g. non pathogenic intestinal protozoa)
What is a reservoir host?
an animal that harbors a species of parasite that can be transmitted to and infect man.
What is a vector ?
an arthropod or other living carrier that transports a pathogenic organism from an infected to a non-infected host.
What is a carrier?
a host that harbors a parasite but exhibits no clinical signs or symptoms.
What is zoonosis?
a disease involving a parasite for which the normal host is an animal, and wherein man can also be infected
What is epidemiology?
What are the life cycle of parasites ?
What is the life cycle of plasmodium?
How can parasite transmission occur?
What is the role of insects in parasite transmission?
What is the role of parasites in transmission?
Describe the pathogenesisof parasitic infections
How can a laboratory diagnosis be made?
How do we classify the protozoal (unicellular) parasites?
How do we classify the metazoan (multicellular) parasites?
Describe the organ based parasite location
