Parasitic Diseases: Causes, Transmission and Prevention

June 5, 2024 1099 0

Parasitic diseases are caused by tiny organisms like protozoa, worms, and insects that live in or on our bodies. These parasites can make us sick by stealing nutrients or causing infections. Some examples include sleeping sickness, caused by a parasite carried by tsetse flies, and malaria, spread by mosquitoes. Understanding how these diseases are transmitted and treated is crucial for staying healthy.

An Overview of Parasitic Diseases

  • Causes: These are diseases caused by protozoa, helminths, and arthropods (live within, on, or at the expense of a host). 

  • Protozoa: include unicellular organisms, such as the flagellates- Giardia and Trichomonas, and amoebae- Entamoeba (causing enteric and gynaecological disorders). 
  • Sporozoa: are parasites with complex life cycles in different hosts, such as Cryptosporidium or malarial parasites
  • Helminths: are worms that infest humans. 
  • Arthropods: include lice, fleas, sandflies, blackflies, and ticks, and they serve as important disease vectors
    • Arthropods can live on the body’s surface (ectoparasites) and transmit bacterial, viral, rickettsial, and other diseases.
  • The table below mentions various diseases caused by parasites and their treatments.
Disease Agent Vector/ Transmission Treatment/Prevention
Sleeping Sickness (Trypanosomiasis) Trypanosoma brucei Tsetse fly Pentamidine
Chagas Disease Trypanosoma cruzi Triatomine bugs No Vaccine 
Ascariasis Ascaris lumbricoides

(Hookworm) 

Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH)

[Worm Eggs- Faecal Route]

  • Albendazole and Mebendazole
Elephantiasis

(Lymphatic filariasis)

Wuchereria bancrofti,

Brugia malayi,

Brugia timori 

Mosquitoes (various) Diethylcarbamazine

(DEC)

Kala-azar (Leishmaniasis) Leishmania species

(protozoans)

Phlebotomine Sand flies Miltefosine 
Malaria
    • 5 Plasmodium parasites- P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi.
    • P. falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite (common in Africa)
  • P. vivax is dominant- outside sub-saharan Africa.
Anopheles mosquitoes R21/Matrix-M and RTS, S

against P. Falciparum (not for other strains)

Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) Naegleria fowleri Water containing Naegleria fowleri enters the nose (not by drinking) Combination of Drugs
River Blindness

(Onchocerciasis) 

Onchocerca volvulus Blackflies (Simulium) Ivermectin
Table: Parasitic Diseases

 

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Conclusion

  • Parasitic diseases are serious health threats that require attention and action. 
  • By knowing how these diseases spread and how to prevent them, we can protect ourselves and others. 
  • With advancements in medicine and public health efforts, we can work towards reducing the burden of parasitic infections worldwide.
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