Introduction to medical

parasitology
Introduction

Medical parasitology: the study and medical
complications of parasites that infect humans
A parasite: a living organism that acquires
some of its basic nutritional requirements
through its intimate contact with another living
organism. Parasites may be simple unicellular
protozoa or complex multicellular metazoa

Eukaryote: a cell with a well-defined
chromosome in a membrane-bound nucleus.
All parasitic organisms are eukaryotes



Introduction

Protozoa: unicellular organisms, e.g.
Plasmodium (malaria)
Metazoa: multicellular organisms, e.g.
helminths (worms) and arthropods (ticks, lice)
An endoparasite: a parasite that lives within
another living organism e.g. malaria,
Giardia
An ectoparasite: a parasite that lives on the
external surface of another living organism
e.g. lice, ticks

Introduction
Host: this is organism which harbours food
and shelter for parasites.
Defnitive host: the host in which adult stage
of parasite lives or sexual mode of
reproduction takes place .
Intermediate host: the host in which larval
stages lives or asexual mode of reproduction
takes place.
Introduction
Parenteric host: vertebrate host in which parasite
remains viable without development or
multiplication.
Transport host: host serve to pass on the
infection from one person to another.
Zoonosis: a parasitic disease in which an animal is
normally the host - but which also infects man

Vector: a living carrier (e.g.an arthropod) that transports
a pathogenic organism from an infected to a non-infected
host. A typical example is the female Anopheles
mosquito that transmits malaria


Host parasite relationship
Commensalism or mutualism: parasites which
lives in host without causing any damage in
complete harmonial condition.
Saprophytism: parasites which depends on
dead and decaying organic matter for their
survival.
Parasitism: parasite which lives in and out of
the body of host causing damage to host .
Sources of infection
Parasitic infections to humans by various
sources like
Soil: embryonated eggs,infective larvae
ex:ascaris eggs,hook worm larvae etc
Water: infective forms,intermediate
hosts,infective larvaes,freeliving parasites
Food: contaminated with infected
parasites,larvae,eggs etc
Sources of infections
Insect vectors:biological vectors like
mosquito,sandflies,tsetse flies,ticks etc.
Mechanical vectors like houseflies.
Animals : domestic and wild animals.
Autoinfection: by self
like fingers to mouth, internal reinfection.
Modes of infection
oral transmission: common mode,through
contaminated food,water,soiled fingers or
fomites.
Skin transmission: entry through skin
Vector transmission: parasites undergo
development or multiplication in the body of
true vectors ie biological vectors transmit
infective parasites or parasite stages.
Mode of infections
Direct transmission: parasitic infections
transmitted by person to person contact like
inhalation,congenital,iatrogenic
infection,sexual mode .
Course of infection
Incubation or prepatent period:
the interval time between initial infection and
earliest appearance of parasite or its stages in
blood or secretions.

Immunity in parasitic infections
Like other infectious agents ,parasites also
elicit immune responses in the host like
humoral and cellular.
But comparitively less efficient like bacteial
and viral because their size,complex
structure,antigenic structure etc.
Life cycle