INTRODUCTION TO

PARASITOLOGY
 PARASITOLOGY
• The branch of biology or medicine concerned
with the study of parasitic organisms.
• It is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the
relationship between them.
• Concerned with the phenomena of
dependence of one living organism on
another.
 DIVISIONS OF PARASITOLOGY
• Protozoology
– Protozoa - small, unicellular organisms, which
contain nucleus and functional organelles.
• Helminthology
– Worms – larger, multicellular organisms, normally
visible to the naked eye in their adult form
• Medical Entomology
– Insects and arthropods
• Medical Parasitology: concerns primarily with
the animal parasite of man and their medical
significance as well as their importance in
human communities
• Tropical Medicine: branch of medicine which
deals with tropical diseases and other special
medical problems of tropical regions.
• Tropical disease: an illness which is
indigenous to or endemic in tropical area but
may also occur in sporadic or epidemic
portions in areas that are not tropical.
Parasite: lives on or in the host usually on a
larger organism which provides physical
protection and nourishment
• Host: harbours parasite and gives
nourishment
 HOST-PARASITE RELATIONSHIP
• Symbiosis: living together of unlike organisms,
protection or other advantages to one or both
partners.
• Mutualism: relationship if beneficial to both
organisms
• Commensalism: parasite derives benefit
without reciprocating but without injury to
the host or both
 HOST-PARASITE RELATIONSHIP
• Parasitism: relationship where one organism,
the parasite, live in or on another, depending
on the latter for its survival and usually at the
expense of the host.
PARASITES ACCORDING TO THE MODE
OF LIVING
• Ectoparasites: living outside the body of the
host
• Endoparasites: living inside the body of the
host
• Facultative parasites: able to live outside or
inside the host and lead both to a free and
parasitic existence
PARASITES ACCORDING TO THE MODE
OF LIVING
• Obligate parasite: completely dependent to
the host for its existence throughout its life
• Accidental/ Incidental parasite: establishes
itself in the host in which it does not ordinarily
live
• Occasional/Periodic: seeks its host
intermittently to obtain nourishment.
PARASITES ACCORDING TO THE MODE
OF LIVING
• Temporary parasites: free living during part of
existence, larval stage has a different host
from its adult stage
• Permanent parasites: remains on the body of
the host in all stages of its life cycle
• Coprozoic/ Spurious parasites: species that
are passed through alimentary tract without
infecting the host, at times recovered in a
living or dead stage
PARASITES ACCORDING TO THE MODE
OF LIVING
• Saphrophytes: live in organic substances in
state of decomposition.
 TYPES OF HOST
• Definitive host: final host, harbours the adult
and sexually mature form
• Intermediate host: harbours the larvae or
asexual stage of the parasite
• Reservoir host: animal that harbours the
same parasite of man
• Paratenic host: harbours a stage of the
parasite where in no further development in
parasite takes place
SOURCES OF EXPOSURE TO INFECTION
• Pathogens: can be animal parasites that are
harmful and frequently cause mechanical
injury to their host
• Carrier: harbours a particular pathogen
without manifesting signs and symptoms
• Exposure: process of inoculating an infective
agent
• Infection: establishment of the infective agent
in the host
SOURCES OF EXPOSURE TO INFECTION
• Incubation period: period between infection
and evidence of symptoms
• Pre-patent period: biological incubation
period, period between infection and
acquisition of the parasite and evidence or
demonstration of infection.
SOURCES OF EXPOSURE TO INFECTION
• Autoinfection: infected individuals becomes
his own direct source of infection.
• Superinfection or Hyperinfection: already
affected individual is further infected with the
same species leading to the massive infection
with the parasite.
• Co-infection: simultaneous infection of a host
by two or more parasite
SOURCES OF EXPOSURE TO INFECTION
A. Contaminated soil and water
• lack of sanitary toilets and use of night soil
• Soil: Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichura,
Hookworm, Strongyloided stercoralis
• Water: Amoeba, Flagellates, Blood flukes
B. Food containing immature infective stage of
parasite
• consumption of undercooked or raw freshwater
fish
• Fish, crab, snail, beef and pork
SOURCES OF EXPOSURE TO INFECTION
C. Arthropods, blood sucking insects and other
wild or domesticated animals
• Mosquitoes (Filaria and Malaria)
• Triatoma bugs ( Trypanosoma cruzi)
• Sandflies (Leishmania)
• Cats, dogs and house rats
D. Another Person
• Beddings and clothing
• Immediate environment he has contaminated
SOURCES OF EXPOSURE TO INFECTION
E. One’s self
• Autoinfection: self is the source of infection
• Enterobius vermicularis, Hymenolepis nana, and
Strongyloides stercoralis
 MODES OF TRANSMISSION
• Soil transmitted
• Arthropod/ Vector transmitted
• Food-borne
• Water-borne
• Skin penetration
• Congenital transmission
• Direct contact
 PORTAL OF ENTRY
• By mouth: most common area of invasion,
entrance for intestinal protozoa
• Skin penatration
• Intranasal: inhalation of eggs
• Transplacental infection
• Transmammary
• Sexual intercourse
 PORTAL OF EXIT
• Stool
• Urine
• Sputum
• Blood
• Tissue aspirates and biopsy
• Orifice swab
• Discharge
 NOMENCLATURE
• Classified according to the International Code
of Zoological Nomenclature
• Phylum → Class → Order → Family →Genus
→ Species
• Scientific name are latinized
• Family names are formed by adding “idea” to
the stem of the genus type
 NOMENCLATURE
• Generic names consist of a single word
written in initial capital letter, the specific
name always begins with a small letter.
• Names of genera and species are italicized or
underlined when written.
 NOMENCLATURE
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Nematoda
• Class: Secernentea
• Order: Ascaridida
• Family: Ascarididae
• Genus: Ascaris
• Species: Ascaris lumbricoides
 TYPES OF LIFE CYCLE
• Simple or complicated
• Most parasitic organisms attain sexual
maturity at the definitive host
• Larval stage of parasite may pass through
different stages in an intermediate host
• As life cycle becomes complicated, the lesser
chances are for the individual parasite to
survive.
 LIFE STAGES OF A PARASITE
• Ova
• Egg
• Larva
• Trophozoite
• Cyst
• Adult
 MODE OF REPRODUCTION
• Sexual
– Oviparous: "egg birth“, give birth to eggs that
must develop before hatching
– Ovoviviparous: ones that produce eggs but retain
them inside the female body until hatching occurs,
so that "live" offspring are born
– Larviparous/ Viviparous: being born alive without
eggs
 MODE OF REPRODUCTION
• Asexual
– Binary fission: division in half
– Parthenogenic: unfertilized ovum develops
directly into a new individual
 EPIDEMIOLOGIC MEASURES
• Epidemiology: science concern with the
propagation of the disease, study of patterns,
distribution and occurrence of disease
• Incidence: number of new cases of infection
appearing in a population in a given period of
time
• Prevalence: usually expressed in percentage,
number of individuals in a population
estimated to be infected with a particular
parasite at a certain time.
 EPIDEMIOLOGIC MEASURES
• Cumulative prevalence: percentage of
individuals in the population infected with at
least one parasite.
• Intensity of infection: number of worm per
infected person (worm burden)
– Direct: counting expelled worms during treatment
– Indirect: counting helminth egg excreted in feces,
expressed in egg per gram
 DISTRIBUTION OF DISEASES
• Sporadic: appears only occasionally in one or
at most a few members of the community
• Endemic: there is a steady moderate level of
disease in human population
• Epidemic: there is a sudden outbreak or rise
of incidence in human population
• Pandemic: when the disease have been
disseminated in extensive area of the world
 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND
SYMPTHOMOLOGY OF PARASITIC
INFECTIONS
• Traumatic or physical damage: when parasites
invade the skin
• Lytic necrosis: enzymes elaborated by many
parasites make it possible for them to digest
available food in the immediate environment
into their own protoplasm or to store it for
production of energy, used as means of tissue
penetration
 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND
SYMPTHOMOLOGY OF PARASITIC
INFECTIONS
• Tissue reactions: cellular proliferation, white
cell infiltration at the side of the parasite
• Toxic allergic phenomena: when proteins or
other metabolites of the parasites are
introduced into the body, there is sensation to
the foreign substance which may produce
hypersensitisation to anaphylactic shock.
 FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE
INTENSITY OF PARASITIC INFECTION
• Topography of locality
• Social condition
• Age
• Hygienic measure
• Sewage disposal
• Water supply
 TREATMENT
• Deworming: use of anti-helminthic drugs in an
individual or public health program.
– Cure rate: usually expressed in percentage,
number of previously positive subjects found to
be egg-negative in examination of a stool or urine
sample using a standard procedure at a set time
after deworming
– Egg reduction rate: percentage fall in egg counts
after deworming based on examination of a stool
or urine sample using a standard procedure at a
set time after deworming
 TREATMENT
• Selective treatment: individual-level
deworming with selection of treatment based
on a diagnosis of an infection or based on
presumptive grounds
• Targeted treatment: group-level deworming
where the risk group to be treated (with or
without prior diagnosis) may be defined by
age, gender or other social characteristics
irrespective of infection status.
 TREATMENT
• Universal treatment: population-level
deworming in which the community is treated
irrespective of age, gender, infection status or
other social characteristics.
• Coverage: proportion of target population
reached by an intervention.
• Drug resistance: genetically transmitted loss of
susceptibility to a drug in a worm population that
was previously sensitive to the appropriate
therapeutic dose.
 TREATMENT
• Efficacy: effect of a drug against an infective
agent in deal experimental conditions and
isolated form of any context
• Effectiveness: measure of the effect of a drug
against infective agent in a particular host,
living in a particular environment with specific
ecological, immunological, and
epidemiological determinants.
 PREVENTION AND CONTROL
• Morbidity control: avoidance of illness caused
by infections, may be achieved by periodically
deworming individuals or groups, known to be
at risk of morbidity
• Information-education-communication (IEC):
health education strategy that aims to
encourage people to adapt and maintain
healthy life practices
 PREVENTION AND CONTROL
• Environmental management: planning,
organization, performance and monitoring of
activities for the modification and/or
manipulation of environmental factors or their
interaction with human beings
– preventing or minimizing vector and intermediate
host propagation
– reducing contact between humans and the
infective agent
 PREVENTION AND CONTROL
• Environmental sanitation: intervention to
reduce environmental health risk
– Safe disposal and hygienic management of human
and animal excreta, refuse and waste water
– Control of vectors, intermediate host and
reservoir of diseases
– Provision of safe drinking water and food safety
– Housing that is adequate in terms of location,
quality of shelter and indoor living conditions,
– Facilities for personal and domestic hygiene
– Safe and healthy working conditions
 PREVENTION AND CONTROL
• Sanitation: provision to access to adequate
facilities for safe disposal of human excreta,
usually combined with access to safe drinking
water.
 ERADICATION AND ELIMINATION
• Disease eradication: permanent reduction to
zero of the worldwide incidence of infection
caused by a specific agent, as a result of
deliberate effort. Once this is achieved,
continued measures are no longer needed.
• Disease elimination: reduction to zero of the
incidence of a specified disease in a defined
geographical area as a result of deliberate
effort. Continued intervention and
surveillance are still required.
 References
Belizario, V. and De Leon, W. (2004). Philippine
Textbook of Medical Parasitology. Second Edition.
University of the Philippines Manila. Ermita, Manila.

Trinidad, J.A (2014). Lecture Notes for Parasitology

Board Review . Pioneer Educational review Center.
Recto, Manila.

Domingo, E. (2012). Lecture Notes for Parasitology. Our

Lady of Fatima University. Valenzuela City.