Protists Section 3

Protists and Disease

• Protists have significant effects on humans and other
organisms.
• They can cause disease and alter ecosystems, and they
are useful in industry and research.
• Protists cause a number of human diseases, including
giardiasis, amebiasis, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis,
cryptosporidiosis, Chagas disease, and malaria.
Protists Section 3

Most common human parasites

Entamoeba histolytica casues
• Protists amebic dysentery

– Single-celled microbes
– Can live on its own, or as a
parasite
– Can live in intestines
without problems
– Dangerous if in blood or
body tissue
– Transmitted fecal-mouth, or
through a invertebrate
vector (mosquito, tick)
Protists Section 3

Diseases Caused by Protists

Protists Section 3

Most common human parasites

• Helminths (worms)
– Flatworms (tapeworms),
Thorny-headed worms,
Round worms

– Only larvae reproduce in

humans, not adult worms

– Often passed between

animals and humans
(eggs, not worms!)
25-foot tapeworm on display at the
Tokyo Parasite Museum.
Protists Section 3

Ectoparasites
• Attach to skin for long
periods of time
• Often vectors (carriers) of
other pathogens

The “kissing bug” is a vector

for Trypanosoma cruzi, a
protist that causes Chagas
An adult louse; actual size is disease.
about as big as a sesame seed.
Protists Section 3

Some Of The Parasitic Illness That Can

Be Acquired During Travel*

• http://www.cdc.gov/NCIDOD/DPD/travel.htm
Protists Section 3

Protists and Disease, continued

Malaria
• Treatment for malaria is inexpensive, but not always
available.
• Plasmodium is developing resistance to many drugs, so
treatment is becoming more difficult.
• Efforts to control malaria include distribution of
insecticide treated mosquito nets and fumigation to kill
mosquitoes.
• Research is also underway to develop a malaria vaccine.
Protists Section 3

Life Cycle of Malaria