blood and tissue flagellates

(Hemoflagellates)

 Live in blood & tissues of human host.

 Obligate parasites
 Spread by blood-sucking insects that serve as
intermediate hosts
 Have complicated life cycles & undergo
morphological changes
 Trypanosoma
T. brucei (causes sleeping sickness)
T. cruzi (causes Chagas disease)
Leishmania (causes Leishmaniasis)
Different stages of Haemoflagellates
Leishmania
 Disease SPECIES

Cutaneous leishmaniasis Leishmania tropica

Leishmania major
Leishmania aethiopica
Leishmania mexicana

Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis Leishmania braziliensis

Visceral leishmaniasis Leishmania donovani

Leishmania infantum
Leishmania chagasi
 .Leishmania spp
• Cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis
• The factors determining the form of disease are:
Leishmanial species, geographic location , host •
immune response
• Cutaneous leishmaniasis
Characterized by cutaneous lesions where sandflies •
have fed
The sores can change in size and appearance over •
time
Visceral leishmaniasis
Fever, weight loss, enlarged spleen and liver •
Important opportunistic infection with HIV •
.Leishmania spp
.Leishmania spp

Sandfly
Amastigotes of Leishmania

Bone marrow amastigotes

Promastigotes of Leishmania
 Hepatosplenomegaly
in visceral leishmaniasis
Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis
.Leishmania spp
Leishmania

Amastigotes infecting
macrophages
 Cutaneous leishmaniasis

Diagnosis:

• Smear: Giemsa stain – microscopy for LD

bodies (amastigotes)

• Biopsy: microscopy for LD bodies or culture in

NNN medium for promastigotes
 Visceral leishmaniasis

Diagnosis
(1) Parasitological diagnosis: METHOD

Bone marrow aspirate 1. microscopy

Splenic aspirate 2. culture in NNN medium
Lymph node
Tissue biopsy
Bone marrow aspiration

Bone marrow amastigotes

 Trypanosoma brucei

• Sleeping Sickness
• Often fatal, endemic infectious disease of
humans and animals
• Caused by either Trypanosoma rhodesiense
or Trypanosoma gambiense
• Transmitted by the tsetse fly
 Trypanosoma cruzi
• Chaga’s Disease
• Chronic Chagas disease and its complications
can be fatal.
• Caused by Trypanosoma cruzi
• A local lesion (chagoma) can appear at the
site of inoculation
Transmitted by true buge
• Transmitted by true bugs
Trypanosoma cruzi
Trypanosoma cruzi
Trypanosoma
T. cruzi causes cutaneous stage (chagoma)
Ocular lesion (Romana’ sign)
C-shape
Trypanosoma trophozoites
 Diagnosis

• Blood film
• Serology: IFAT
• Xenodiagnosis: feeding bugs on a suspected
cases.