‫الجمهورية اليمنية‬

‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬

‫جـــــامعـــــــة الحكمة‬
‫كلية العلوم الطبية ‪ -‬قسم الصيدلة‬
‫المستوى الثالث و الرابع‬

‫‪Practical medical parasitology‬‬

‫‪Prepared by:‬‬
‫‪T – Mohammed hail Al-adeemy‬‬

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Medical parasitology
Is the science that deals with organisms living in the
human body (the host) and the medical significance of
this host-parasite relationship.
Parasite :
Is a living organism, which takes its nourishment and
other needs from a host.
The host:
Is an organism which provides the parasite with
nourishment and shelter.

Parasite may be classified as ectoparasites or

endoparasites:

1- Ectoparasites:
inhabit they body surface only, without penetrating into
the tissues (lice, ticks, fleas and other hematophagous
arthropods.

2- Endoparasites:
live within the body of the host, all protozoa and
helminthes of human are endoparasites. For example
Ascaris, Plasmodium .

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The hosts can be divided into several classes as well:

1- Definitive host (final host ):

is an organism in which a parasite becomes sexually
matured. The definitive host is also known as the
primary host. Inside the definitive host, the parasite
becomes an adult and reproduces sexually. For example,
the female Anopheles mosquito serves as the definitive
host for the malaria parasite. Humans also serve as
definitive hosts for several parasites e.g. Schistosoma.

2- Intermediate host:
is a living organism in which a parasite spends short time
period of its life cycle before exploiting a suitable host to
become mature and reproduce sexually. Inside the
intermediate host, parasite passes one or more asexual
stages, mostly development stages.

3- Reservoir (carrier) host:

A reservoir is the source of a disease, harboring the
infectious agent(s).
Reservoirs: are where a pathogen of infection is
naturally found and where the pathogen is able to
multiply.

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A carrier: is a type of reservoir where the carrier shows
no clinical symptoms of infection but is able to transmit
the pathogen.

Classification of parasites of medical importance :

The following is a basic generally accepted practical
classification of the medically important parasitic
protozoa and helminths.
1- PROTOZOA
Single-celled organisms
- Amoebae
Entamoeba histolytica
- Flagellates
Giardia lamblia
Trichomonas vaginalis
Trypanosoma species
Leishmania species
- Ciliates
Balantidium coli
- Coccidia
Blood and tissue coccidia:
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Plasmodium species
Toxoplasma gondii

2- HELMINTHS
Multicellular worms
- Trematodes (Flukes)
Schistosoma species
Fasciolopsis buski
Fasciola hepatica
Heterophyes heterophyes
- Cestodes (Tapeworms)
Taenia species

- Nematodes (Roundworms)
Intestinal nematodes:
Ascaris lumbricoides (large roundworm)
Enterobius vermicularis (threadworm)
Ancylostoma duodenale (hookworm)
Trichuris trichiura (whipworm)