Giardiasis is a water-borne protozoal diarrheal-disease that is cause by parasites in the genus Giardia. The disease is a common intestinal infection which is usually spread in human population through feacal-contaminated water, food or hand. Giardiasis was first described by Anthony van Leeuwenhoek in the 1680’s when he examined his stool samples, and discovered tiny […]
Leishmaniasis is the parasitic disease caused by the protozoal organism, Leishmania. The disease affects the skin, spleen and the liver, and it is usually characterized by extensive lesions on the skin (in the mouth, throat and nose region) that sometimes leads to deformity of the affected body part. Leishmaniasis can be old world or new
Malaria is increasing at a worrying rate compared to the other blood and tissue parasitic infections. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria accounts for one of the most causes of death due to infectious diseases worldwide, and the malady affects an estimated 350 million people around the globe with over a million people
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF MALARIA Read More »
Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Environmental factors greatly enhances the spread and transmission of malaria because these climatic factors which are more prone in one part of the world than the other helps the female Anopheles mosquito (that harbours the Plasmodium parasite) to thrive and multiply successfully. The spread of malaria infection in a given population is controlled and affected
FACTORS THAT AFFECT TRANSMISSION OF MALARIA Read More »
Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
References Aschengrau A and Seage G.R (2013). Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health. Third edition. Jones and Bartleh Learning, Beers M.H., Porter R.S., Jones T.V., Kaplan J.L and Berkwits M (2006). The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. Eighteenth edition. Merck & Co., Inc, USA. Chiodini P.L., Moody A.H., Manser D.W (2001). Atlas of medical
TERMINOLOGIES USED IN PLASMODIUM INFECTION Read More »
Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Mosquito species including those of Anopheles carry out effective breeding and survival in freshwaters (i.e. waters with low salinity) than in salt waters (i.e. waters with high salinity). If the water in which the mosquito lays its eggs has high salt concentration (too saline), the larva and pupa stage of the mosquito cannot survive and
LIFE CYCLE OF MOSQUITO Read More »
Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Malaria in humans is majorly caused by four (4) species of Plasmodium. Plasmodium species are in the Phylum Alveolata, Subphylum Apicomplexa, Class Haematozoa,Order Haemosporida, and Genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium parasite is naturally transmitted to susceptible human hosts from an insect vector called female Anopheles mosquito. The 4 major and well known infectious species of Plasmodium that
HUMAN PLASMODIUM SPECIES: causative agents of malaria Read More »
Public Health & Parasitic Diseases (Parasitology)
Trichinellosis or trichinosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by tissue nematodes or roundworms after the ingestion of contaminated meat (e.g. undercooked or raw pork meat) containing the encysted larva of the parasite. The disease is also common in pigs, rats and other domestic and wild animals; and the causative agent of trichinosis is known
Paragonimiasis or lung-fluke infection is a protozoan lung disease that resembles bacterial tuberculosis in humans; and it is caused by trematodes or flukes. It is a lung-fluke disease that has a worldwide distribution but more prevalent in parts of Asia including China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan. The disease has also been reported in some parts
Dracunculiasis is a crippling parasitic disease that is caused by a tissue nematode (roundworm) which is usually found in the subcutaneous tissue of infected humans. It is also known as guinea worm ulcer disease because the disease causes ulcer or boil on the skin of infected human hosts. The roundworm starts to emerge from the
