Parasitology Flashcards
Causal agent of amebiasis
Entamoeba Histolytica
Protozoa
Amebiasis: bloody diarrhea, liver abscess
Transmission: cyst in the water, fecal -oral
Dx: serology and/or trophozoites with engulfed RBC in the cytoplasm or cyst with up to 4 nuclei in the stool
Tx: metronidazole
Giardiasis
Causal agent : Giardia lamblia
- transmission: fecal oral, cyst in the water.
- diagnosis: multinucleated trophozoites or cyst in the stool
Disease: giardiasis: fatty diarrhea with bloating, flatulence and foul-smelling .
Cryptosporidium
Causal agent of severe diarrhea in AIDS.
Mild disease (watery diarrhea) in inmunocompetent hosts.
Transmission: oocysts in water, undercooked meat
Diagnosis: oocysts on acid fast stain in stool
Tx: prevention , nitozoxanide
Protozoa- CNS INFECTION
- Toxoplasma Gondii
- Naegleria fowleri
- Trypanosoma Brucei
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasma gondii
- transmission: cyst in meat, oocysts in CAT feces; transplacentario
- definitive host: cats
- intermediate host: human
- Dx: serology (biopsy) you can see tachyzoite.
- Tx: sulfadiazine + pyrimethamine
Diasease: Toxoplamosis
- after birth: asymptomatic or non-specific flu like illness with fever and lymphadenopathy
- congenital: first trimester : * chorioretinitis * hydrocephalus. * intracranial calcifications
Third trimester : Inapparent, may lead with a progressive blindness in the child later in life (teens)
-Reactivation in AIDS: brain abscess seen as ring-enhancing lesions on MRI. Chronic headaches.
Free living amoebas that occasionally infect humans
- Naegleria fowleri
- Acanthamoeba
Naegleria fowleri
-Disease: rapidly fatal meningoencephalitis
Symptoms: Severe headaches, Nausea, fever, Altered sense of smell .
- Transmission: swimming in fresh water lakes : enters via cribriform plate.
- Diagnosis: * Amoebas in spinal fluids * Motile trophozoites in CSF.
- Treatment : Amphotericin B
Acanthamoeba
Keratitis
Granulomatous amebic encephalitis
- Transmision: free living amebas in contaminated contact lens solution
- Treatment: topical miconazol
Trypanosoma brucei
AFRICAN SLEEPING SICKNESS
- Symptoms: enlarged lymph nodes, recurring fever, somnolence, coma.
- Transmission: tsetse fly bite
- Diagnosis: trypomastigote in blood smear
- Treatment: acute: suramin
Chronic: melarsoprol
Protozoa- hematologic infections
- Plasmodium : vivax/ovale, falciparum, malariae
- Babesia
Babesia
Disease : BABESIOSIS
Fever and hemolytic anemia
Predominant in northeastern of USA
Coinfection with Borrelia (Lyme disease)
- transmission: Ixodes tick bite
- Diagnosis: Blood smear: ring form , Maltese cross , Terras in RBC
Plasmodium
MALARIA
Fever spikes, headache, anemia, splenomegaly. This symptoms appears when merozoites are liberate from RBC.
HbS and other kind of abnormal hemoglobin have resistant to get infect by this Protozoa.
Two phases :
- Sexual in the female mosquito (anopheles): form sporozoites in her stomach, they migrate to salivary glands to infect humans through the bite.
- Asexual phase : in humans, we get the sporozoites from the mosquito bite, they travel in blood to liver cells and transform in trophozoites and then merozoites, causing RBC lysis and merozoites go infected other cells.
Types of plasmodium:
- P. Vivax/ovale: 48hr cycle (tertian) . Diagnosis: schuffner dots in blood smear.
- P. falciparum : 72 hrs cycle (malignant tertian or quartan) : irregular fever spikes, causes cerebral malaria. Diagnosis on blood smear multiple ring forms crescent or banana shaped gametes.
- Treatment: Chloroquine
Protozoa - visceral infection
- Trypanosoma cruzi: Chagas disease
- Leishmania donovani
Leishmania
- L. donovani: visceral leishmaniasis
- L. braziliensis : mucocutaneous leishmaniasis
- Leishmania spp: cutaneous leishmaniasis
Leishmania donovani
VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS ( kala- azar) - Symptoms: Spiking fever Hepatoesplenomegaly Pancytopenia
- Transmission: sandfly
- Diagnosis: macrophages containing amastigotes
- Treatment: amphotericin B, sodium stibogluconate.
Trypanosoma cruzi
CHAGAS DISEASE (American Trypanosomiasis)
Dilated cardiomyopathy with apical atrophy, megacolon, megaesophagus.
Unilateral peri orbital swelling (romaña sign) characteristic of acute stage.
- Transmission: triatomine bug (reduviid bug) feces, deposited in a painless bite.
- Diagnosis: trypomastigote in blood smear
- Treatment: benznidazole or nifurtimox
Protozoa - sexually transmitted
Trichomona vaginalis
TRICHOMONIASIS
- Vaginitis
- foul-smelling
- greenish discharge
- itching and burning
- Transmission: sexually
- Diagnosis: vaginal discharge, strawberry cervix, trophozoites motile on wet mount
- Diagnosis: metronidazole for patient and partner (prophylaxis)
Nematodes (roundworms)
Routes of infection
- Ingested : Enterobius, Ascaris, Toxocara, Trichinella
- Cutaneous: Strongyloides, Ancylostoma, Necator
- Bites: Loa Loa, Onchocerca volvulus, Wuchereria bancrofti
Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm)
Intestinal infection causing anal pruritus.
- Transmission:fecal oral, auto ingested
- Diagnosis: seeing egg via scotch tape
- Treatment: bendazoles (albendazole), treat all family.