Introduction

to Medical Parasitology
History, Definitions
Classification and Taxonomy
of
Human Parasites
Parasitology

• Parasitology – science about

parasitic animals and relationships
with their hosts.
• Para + situ + logos = conversation
about those living nearby us
= parasitology.
 History

The first written records of what

are almost certainly parasitic
infections come from a period of
Egyptian medicine from 3000 to
400 BC, particularly the Ebers
papyrus of 1500 BC discovered
at Thebes.
A.lumbricoides eggs have been found in
human coprolites from Peru dating from
2277 BC.
Larval nematodes,possibly hook
worms, have been found in fecal samples
dated to about 200 BC from the Colorado
Plateau
In 1910, Marc Armand Ruffer found
S.haematobium eggs in two Egyptian
mummies dating from the,1250 to 1000
BC
A parasite, is an organism that lives on
or inside another organism to the
detriment of the host organism.

The parasite grows, feeds, or uses

shelter of the host organism (including the
host itself) contributing negatively to the
relationship.
• Parasitism:
A symbiotic relationship in which the
symbiont (parasite) benefits at the expense
of the host by living either within the host
(endoparasite) or outside the host
(ectoparasite).
 Types of parasitism

Obligate parasites:All or most of their life

cycle are parasitic.

Temporary parasites:parasitic for limited

period for either feeding or reproduction.
Facultative parasites:organisms are not
parasitic but can live parasitic for a limited
period.
Accidental parasites:normally free living
organisms can survive within a host when
they are accidentally taken.
 What is a Parasite Host?

The host is the organism that the parasite

lives in.

*A definitive host
* An intermediate host
*A paratenic host
*A reservoir host
A definitive host is an organism that the
adult, or sexually reproductive stage of
the parasite lives in.

Ex: When a human has an adult beef

tapeworm in the intestine producing
eggs,he or she is a “definitive host”
• An intermediate host is an organism
that hosts an immature parasitic stage, or
a stage that reproduces asexually

Ex:Human are “intermediate hosts” to

malariae parasites which multiply
in human liver and blood cells.
• Reservoir hosts, with respect to human
parasites, are hosts that are infected with a
parasite and keep it alive even if the parasite is
wiped out in humans.
“Reservoir hosts can spread the parasite and reintroduce it to
human populations”.
●A paratenic host is an organism that is
infected with a parasite and can pass it on
to another host, but in which the parasite
does not develop further.
SYMBIOSIS

A biological relationship in which (usually)

two species live in close proximity to each
other and interact regularly in such a way
as to benefit one or both of the organisms.
*Symbiosis may exist between two or more
individuals of the same species as well as
between two or more individuals
representing two different species
The three principal varieties
of symbiosis are

*mutualism,
*commensalism,
* parasitism.
 MUTUALISM
Mutualism is any relationship between two species of
organisms that benefits both species

COMMENSALISM
A symbiotic relationship in which one organism, the
commensal,benefits without causing any detriment to
the other organism which is the host.

PARASITISM
A symbiotic relationship in which one organism, the
parasite,benefit at the expense of the other
organism,which is the host.
Other Parasitology Definitions

*A cyst is a stage of many protozoan

parasites that survives well in the
environment. Cysts of human
parasites are infective to humans.
*A trophozoite is a moving, feeding,
and multiplying stage of protozoan
life cycles. There are not male and
female trophozoites: they multiply
asexually.
Other Parasitology Definitions

• Infective (=invasive) stage The stage

of the parasite that invades the host .
• Vector:An Arthropod which is carrying
and transferring parasites from one host
to an other
(Egg-larval stages-adult parasite-eggs)
 Other Parasitology Definitions

• Reservoir= Non-human “host” where the

parasite can live.This term is only applied
when the parasite can infect humans .
• Life Cycle= Stages of development of a
parasite
Essential features of the
parasitism

*Parasite is smaller then the host

*Parasite has a shorter life span than
it’s host
*Parasite has a greater reproductive
potential than it’s host
Classification of parasites
Zoological Classification
Living organisms

Without cell With celular

construction construction
(VIRUS)

Procaryotic cell Eucaryotic cell

(= monera) (=protista /single cell)

RICKETSIA PROTOZOA
BACTERIA (=metazoa)
HELMİNTS
ARTHROPODS
 Ecological Classification

Endoparasite:a parasite that inhabits the

internal organs or tissues of an animal
or plant

Ectoparasite:any parasite that lives on

the outer surface of an animal.
Different location of parasites
into the host body
• Living in digestive system - coelozoic
parasites (tapeworms)

• Living in tissues – histozoic parasites

(trichinelliosis)

●Living in blood – hemoparasites (Malaria etc.).

Methods of invasion and escape

INVASION
- Via vectors
- Oral
- Penetration from the skin

ESCAPE
• Sputum
• Via vectors
• Faeces or urine
Pathologic effects of parasites

• Physical trauma (skin,mucosa)

• Migration
• Nutrition
• Toxins
• Immunosupression
Diagnosis of Parasitic Infections:

• 1. Clinical diagnosis
• 2. Laboratory diagnosis
Methods for study and
clinical analysis

• Parasitological analysis:
tissue samples, excrements, surgical
methods (biopsy)…
● Radiological (Rontgenoscopy Tomography ...)
• Serodiagnosis (Immunodiagnostics. ELISA test etc)
Major Groups of Parasites

• PROTOZOANS
• -- Single-celled eukaryotes
• – Malaria, Giardia, Trichomonas vaginalis
• HELMINTS (The Worms)
• – Multicellular animals
• – Flukes, Tapeworms, Roundworms
• ECTOPARASITES
• – Multicellular animals
• – Live outside the host
• – Ticks, Lice, Fleas
Treatment of Parasitic Infections:

• 1. Medical and surgical

• 2. Chemotherapy
• 3. Adequate nutrition
Prevention and Control:

• 1. Reduction in sources
• 2. Education
• 3. Destruction and/or control of
reservoir hosts and vector