Blood and Tissue Flagellates

• Secretions and scrapings in saline wet mounts are examined for Trichomonas vaginalis.
• Prostatic secretions and urine are examined for Trichomonas vaginalis in males.
• Diamond’s Modified Medium, Feinberg and Whittington Culture Medium are used for culture of Trichomonas vaginalis.
• Metronidazole, Tinidazole are used for treatment of Trichomonas vaginalis.
• During treatment period, discourage sexual intercourse is advised for Trichomonas vaginalis.
• Multiple partners, greater frequency of sexual intercourse, prostitutes are factors contributing to higher prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis.
• Practicing safe sex, proper diagnosis and treatment of asymptomatic males, self-control, strict discipline and patience can help in controlling the spread of Trichomonas vaginalis.
• Trichomonas vaginalis was first observed and named by Donné in 1836.
• All Amastigote species are strictly parasitic, small organisms that lack the contractile vacuoles, binary fission, and most will undergo encystations.
• Kala-azar, Visceral, Dumdum fever, Death fever, and Tropical splenomegaly are diseases associated with Amastigote.
• Amastigote is classified under the Subkingdom: Protozoa, Phylum: Sarcomastigophora, Subphylum: Sarcodina, Superclass: Rhizopoda, Order: Amoebidae, Family: Endamoebidae.
• Entamoeba has a small karyosome near or at the center of the nucleus and peripheral chromatin granules line the nuclear membrane.
• Amastigote is spherical in shape and elongated forms are slender and torpedo like.
• Prevention against Amastigote includes protection against sand flies, avoidance of contact with infection, health education, and vaccination.
• Genus of Amastigote include Entamoeba, Endolimax, and Iodamoeba, which are distinguished by their nuclear structure.
• Trichomonas vaginalis does not survive well in external environment.
• Trichomonas vaginalis can’t survive at the acidic vaginal pH of 3.5 – 4.0 of a healthy adult women.
• Organisms of Trichomonas vaginalis are established and multiplies when vaginal condition becomes alkaline than usual.
• In females, Trichomonas vaginalis is found in the vagina and the urethra in chronic infection.
• In males, Trichomonas vaginalis is found in the urethra and prostate glands.
• Blood and Tissue Flagellates are part of the Order Trypanosomatida and Family Trypanosomatidae.
• Blood Flagsellates include Trypanosoma brucei complex and Trypanosoma cruzi.
• Tissue Flagsellates include Leishmania braziliensis, Leishmania donovani, and Leishmania tropica.
• Amastigote (Leishmania) is a promastigote (Leptomonas) is an epimastigote (Crithidia) is a trypomastigote (Trypanosoma).
• Diagnosis of Chagas’ Disease involves microscopic examination of fresh anticoagulated blood, or its buffy coat, for motile parasites, and of thin and thick blood smears stained with Giemsa, for visualization of parasites.
• Reproduction of Brucei rhoesiense is by binary longitudinal fission.
• Brucei rhoesiense travel with a wavy spiral motion due to a contractile flagellum and undulating membrane.
• Brucei rhoesiense occur in the blood of the majority of the vertebrate animals.
• Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of American Trypanosomiasis, also known as Chagas disease.
• Chagas’ Disease, also known as American Trypanosomiasis, manifests as asymptomatic fever, anorexia, lymphadenopathy, mild hepatosplenomegaly, and myocarditis.
• Trypanosoma cruzi can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, transplacently, and in laboratory accidents.
• Symptomatic chronic form of Chagas’ Disease may not occur for years or even decades after initial infection.
• Chagas’ Disease includes cardiomyopathy, the most serious manifestation, and pathologies of the digestive tract such as megaesophagus and megacolon.
• A nodular lesion or furuncle, known as chagoma, can appear at the site of inoculation.
• Brucei rhoesiense can assume various shapes.
• Romana’s sign, characterized by unilateral palpebral and periocular swelling, may appear as a result of conjunctival contamination with the vector’s feces.
• Trypanosoma cruzi is mostly found in poor rural areas of Mexico, Central America, and South America.
• Isolation of the agent of Chagas’ Disease can be done inoculation in culture with specialized media.
• The life cycle of Brucei rhoesiense involves an intermediate host, which is usually an insect.
• Brucei rhoesiense are minute, actively motile, fusiform protozoa and flattened from side to side.