PARASITOLOGY

• If a susceptible host harbors the parasite inside his body, the host is said to be infected
• ectoparasites are parasites found outside the body of the host
• host harboring ectoparasites is said to be infested
• parasites found inside the body of the host are endoparasites
• host harboring endoparasites is said to be infected
• entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amoebiasis
• All amoeba are considered non-pathogenic except Entamoeba histolytica
• entamoeba dispar has the same morphologic characteristics as Entamoeba histolytica, differentiated by means of molecular testing or PCR
• metronidazole is useful to treat amoebic infections
• ivermectin is useful for strongyloides and filaria
• albendazole is useful for common intestinal parasite
• praziquantel is useful for trematode infections
• chloroquinone is the mainstay drug for uncomplicated malara infections
• the mode of transmission for malaria is vector-borne
• education and information is the most effective approach in parasitic disease prevention
• black water fever is a complication of malaria
• a parasite is an organism that lives in or on and obtains its nourishment from another organism
• parasitology is the study of parasites
• host is a species of animal or plant that harbors a parasite providing environmental and nutritional requirements for the parasite to survive
• disease is a process with characteristic symptoms
• the triad of malaria symptoms is fever, chills, and sweating
• an infection is a parasitic invasion inside the body
• an infestation is a parasitic invasion outside or on the body
• a vector is a living carrier (often an insect/arthropod) responsible for transporting parasites from infected to uninfected hosts
• Biologic vector is when a part of parasite development happens in the vector and it will transmit the infective stage of the parasite
• mechanical vector is when the contaminated objects with an infective stage of the parasite and the host accidentally comes into contact or ingested it
• obligatory parasite cannot survive outside of a host
• ascaris lumbricoides, trichuris trichiura, hokworm are examples of obligatory parasite
• facultative parasite are capable of existing independently of a host
• free-living parasites are found in the environment
• parasitic parasites are found either inside/outside the body of the host
• accidental or incidental hosts are hosts other than the normal one that is harboring a parasite
• intermediate host is a host in which the larval asexual phase of parasite development occurs
• definitive or final host is a host in which the adult sexual phase of parasite development occurs
• humans are the final host of filaria, taenia solium, and taenia saginata
• human is the intermediate host of malaria
• mosquito is the intermediate host of filaria
• pig is the intermediate of taenia solium
• cattle is the intermediate host of taenia saginata
• mosquito is the final host of malaria