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Protozoan infections are responsible for diseases that affect many different types of organisms, including plants, animals, and some marine life. Many of the most prevalent and deadly human diseases are caused by a protozoan infection, including African sleeping sickness, amoebic dysentery, and malaria.
Invertebrates spread bacterial, viral and protozoan pathogens by two main mechanisms. Either via their bite, as in the case of malaria spread by mosquitoes, or via their faeces, as in the case of Chagas' Disease spread by Triatoma bugs or epidemic typhus spread by human body lice. Many invertebrates are responsible for transmitting diseases.
Human parasites are divided into endoparasites, which cause infection inside the body, and ectoparasites, which cause infection superficially within the skin. The cysts and eggs of endoparasites may be found in feces , which aids in the detection of the parasite in the human host while also providing the means for the parasitic species to exit ...
Main article: Human parasite Endoparasites Protozoan organisms Common name of organism or disease Latin name (sorted) Body parts affected Diagnostic specimen Prevalence Source/Transmission (Reservoir/Vector) Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and Acanthamoeba keratitis (eye infection) Acanthamoeba spp. eye, brain, skin culture worldwide contact lenses cleaned with contaminated tap water ...
Many protozoan pathogens are human parasites, causing serious diseases such as malaria, giardiasis, toxoplasmosis, and sleeping sickness. Some of these protozoa have two-phase life cycles, alternating between proliferative stages (e.g., trophozoites ) and resting cysts , enabling them to survive harsh conditions.
Malaria is caused by infection with parasites in the genus Plasmodium. [47] In humans, malaria is caused by six Plasmodium species: P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale curtisi, P. ovale wallikeri, P. vivax and P. knowlesi. [48] Among those infected, P. falciparum is the most common species identified (~75%) followed by P. vivax (~20%). [15]
Medical parasitology is concerned with three major groups of parasites: parasitic protozoa, helminths, and parasitic arthropods. [2] Parasitic diseases are thus considered those diseases that are caused by pathogens belonging taxonomically to either the animal kingdom, or the protozoan kingdom. [4]
Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus Leishmania. [7] It is generally spread through the bite of phlebotomine sandflies, Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia, and occurs most frequently in the tropics and sub-tropics of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and southern Europe.