Parasitology Flashcards
- Define what is a parasite?
A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host.
- What are the three main classes of parasites that cause disease in humans?
- Protozoa
- Helminths
- Ectoparasites.
- What is a protozoa?
• Protozoa are microscopic, single-celled organisms that can be free- living or parasitic in nature.
- What feature of a protozoa parasite allows it to cause serious infections in humans?
They are able to multiply in humans allowing serious infections to develop from a single organism.
- How are protozoa transmitted in humans?
• Protozoa living in the human intestine can be transmitted by the fecal-oral
route
• Protozoa living in blood or tissues are transmitted by an arthropod vector
- What feature of protozoa are they classified by?
There mode of movement
- Give the five classifications of protozoa
- Amoeba
- Flagellates
- Ciliates
- Sporozoa
- Give an example of an Amoeba protozoa?
Entamoeba
- Give two examples of a flagellate protozoa?
- Giardia
2. Leishmania
- Give an example of a ciliate protozoa?
Balantidium
- What are Sporozoa protozoa and give two examples?
• Sporozoa – organisms whose adult stage is not motile e.g. Plasmodium, Cryptosporidium
- List three medically important protozoa infections?
Any three out of : • Entamoeba histolytica • Giardia lamblia • Trichomonas vaginalis • Malaria (Plasmodium spp.) • Toxoplasma gondii • Cryptosporidium • Leishmania spp. • Trypansoma cruzi • Trypansoma brucei (gambiense/rhodesiense)
- What are Helminths?
Helminths are large, multicellular organisms (worms) generally visible to the naked eye in their adult stages.
- In their human form can Helminths multiply in humans?
NO
- What are the three main groups of Helminths in the human parasite?
- Nematodes (roundworms)
- Trematodes (flukes)
- Cestodes (tapeworms)