mod 1

• Medical Parasitology aims to provide BS Medical Laboratory Science students with a comprehensive understanding of parasitology, ensuring they are well-prepared for clinical practice and research in the field.
• Terminal learning competencies in Medical Parasitology include identifying and classifying parasites based on their morphology, life cycle, and mode of transmission.
• Differentiating between protozoa and helminths is a crucial aspect of Medical Parasitology, with major examples highlighted within each category.
• Identifying common arthropod vectors responsible for transmitting parasitic infections is a laboratory technique in Medical Parasitology.
• Understanding the life cycles of major human parasites, emphasizing the stages of development and host interactions, is a key aspect of Medical Parasitology.
• Analyzing the factors influencing the transmission of parasitic infections and their epidemiological significance is a part of Medical Parasitology.
• Describing the clinical manifestations associated with common parasitic infections and explaining the pathogenesis of parasitic diseases, including the host-parasite relationship and the immune response, are crucial aspects of Medical Parasitology.
• Mutualism can be classified as obligate mutualism, where both symbionts entirely depend on each other for survival, and facultative mutualism, where mutualism benefits an organism, but the organism is not so dependent on mutualism that it cannot survive without it.
• Competition is a negative interaction between a large and a small species or similar species for same resources, where the stronger one excludes the smaller or weaker one from living space or deprives it of food.
• E.coli produces vitamins (K and B) and bacteriocins (a chemical that wards off harmful bacteria) and the large intestine provides shelter and nutrients for its growth and multiplication.
• Commensalism is a type of symbiotic relationship where one partner benefits whereas the second partner, the host, are neither helped nor harmed.
• Parasitism is a non-mutual symbiotic relationship in which one of the symbionts, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the host, while the host is harmed.
• Amensalism is a type of relationship in which one species is inhibited or completely harmed and the other is not affected.
• Evaluating pharmacological treatments for various parasitic infections, considering drug mechanisms of action and potential side effects, is a part of Medical Parasitology.
• The mode of transmission of parasites can be categorized as direct/simple life cycle - parasite requires only one host to complete its development or indirect/complex life cycle - parasite requires two/ three hosts (one definitive host and another one or two intermediate host/s) to complete its development.
• Infection is transmitted by the penetration of the larval forms of the parasite through unbroken skin or by introduction of the parasites through bloodsucking insect vectors.
• Mother to fetus transmission is important for few parasitic infections like Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium spp and Trypanosoma cruzi.
• Trichomonas vaginalis is the most frequent parasite to be transmitted by sexual contact.
• The life cycle of parasites depends upon three factors: host, mode of transmission and infective form.
• Autoinfection is observed in Cryptosporidium parvum, Taenia solium, Enterobius vermicularis, Strongyloides stercoralis and Hymenolepis nana.
• The organism which harbors the parasite and provides the nourishment and shelter is known as the host.
• Certain parasites like Plasmodium species, Babesia species, Toxoplasma species, Leishmania species and Trypanosoma species can be transmitted through transfusion of blood or blood products.
• Discussing preventive measures and control strategies for parasitic diseases, including public health interventions, is a part of Medical Parasitology.
• Autoinfection: Few intestinal parasites may infect the same person by contaminated hand (external autoinfection) or by reverse peristalsis (internal autoinfection).
• Few intestinal parasites may be transmitted to the same person by contaminated hand (external autoinfection) or by reverse peristalsis (internal autoinfection).
• Many parasitic diseases are transmitted by insect bite such as: malaria, filariasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas’ disease and African sleeping sickness.
• The infective form of a parasite is the morphological form of the parasite which is transmitted to man.
• Entamoeba, Giardia and Enterobius are also transmitted rarely by sexual contact among homosexuals.
• The host can be classified into definitive host (where the parasite undergoes sexual cycle) or intermediate host (where the parasite undergoes asexual cycle).
• Culicine mosquito is the definitive host for the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV).
• The role of such a host is to fill up an ecological gap between the intermediate host and the definitive host.
• Paratenic host harbors the sexually immature parasite, but it cannot develop further in this host.
• Humans are dead-end hosts for the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), whose life cycle is normally between culicine mosquitoes and birds.
• Paratenic or Storage Host: A host that serves as a temporary refuge and vehicle for reaching an obligatory host, usually the definitive host.
• Implementing quality assurance measures in the laboratory to ensure accurate and reliable parasitological results is a part of Medical Parasitology.
• If a suitable definitive host ingests the paratenic host or a part of it containing the infective stage, the parasite can grow to maturity otherwise it remains stored in the host itself.
• Lizards act as paratenic hosts for Spirocera lupi in dogs.
• Incidental or Accidental host: A host organism that shelters the parasite, but since it can’t progress the life cycle development, it is a dead-end for it.
• People can become infected, but the level of virus in their blood does not become high enough to pass on the infection to mosquitoes that bite them.
• Adhering to safety protocols when handling infectious materials, emphasizing the importance of biosafety in the laboratory, is a part of Medical Parasitology.