Chapter 12 Part 2: The Eukaryotic Members of the Microbial World - Protozoans and Helminths

Vocabulary flashcards covering the eukaryotic microbes lecture, including pathogenic protozoans, their motility, malaria, and parasitic helminths.

Protozoans

"Animal-like" unicellular organisms that do not belong to the animal kingdom.

Trophozoite

The feeding, growing, and reproduction stage of a protozoan.

Protozoan cyst

A dormant stage that helps a protozoan survive harsh environments and provides resistance to disinfection.

Conjugation (Protozoan)

A process occurring in some protozoans where individuals exchange DNA.

Bacterial endospores

Highly resistant bacterial structures that are most resistant to disinfection, destroyed only by extreme heat and special chemical treatments.

C. diff

A bacterial organism that produces endospores to survive harsh environments.

Giardia lamblia

A protozoan with both a trophozoite and cyst stage that causes waterborne diarrheal illness.

Giardia trophozoite

The active, feeding, and growing form of Giardia that lives inside the host's intestines.

Giardia cyst

The dormant, resistant form of Giardia found residing in the stomach.

Fecal-oral transmission

The route by which Giardia spreads from animal to animal, typically acquired by ingesting contaminated fresh water.

Giardiasis prevention

Methods to eliminate Giardia cysts, including water treatment plants filtering them from tap water and boiling water to destroy them.

Trichomonas vaginalis

A protozoan pathogen that does not form cysts and spreads from host to host through sexual transmission.

Trypanosoma brucei

A protozoan transmitted by a tsetse fly bite that causes African sleeping sickness.

African sleeping sickness

A disease characterized by fever and inflammation around a fly bite, which can lead to coma and death as the parasite invades brain tissue.

Tsetse fly

The insect vector that transmits Trypanosoma brucei through its bite.

Naegleria fowleri

A freshwater human pathogen that enters through the nose and causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

Brain-eating amoeba

The common name for the protozoan pathogen Naegleria fowleri.

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM)

A rare and highly deadly brain infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, marked by a crippling headache.

Pseudopods

Structures used by amebae to move and feed, functioning similarly to human white blood cells like macrophages and neutrophils.

Malaria

A human disease transmitted by mosquitoes that has affected humans for 10,000 years.

Plasmodium falciparum

The protozoan parasite responsible for the most common and deadly form of malaria.

Female mosquitoes

The specific vectors that spread malaria because they require nutrients from human blood for egg development.

Red blood cells (RBCs)

Human cells infected by Plasmodium falciparum after leaving the liver, leading to inefficient transport of $O_2$ and serious body damage.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The geographic region of the planet with the most reported malaria infections.

Doxycycline

A medication that prevents Plasmodium falciparum from invading human cells and kills bacteria by preventing them from building proteins.

National Malaria Eradication Program

A program that successfully and completely wiped out malaria in the United States in the early 1950s.

Communicable Disease Center

The former name of the CDC, a US government agency that played a significant role in eradicating malaria in the United States.

Helminths

Large multicellular worms that belong to the Animal Kingdom and lay microscopic eggs.

Flatworms and roundworms

The two primary groups of parasitic helminths.

Tapeworm

A parasitic helminth characterized by a flat, ribbon-shaped body and no digestive system, depending on a host for food breakdown.

Scolex

The head portion of a tapeworm that functions to attach to the intestines of the host.

Proglottids

Tapeworm segments containing reproductive organs and eggs that break off the worm and are released with feces to spread to other hosts.

Roundworm

A parasitic or free-living helminth characterized by a cylindrical body, a true digestive tract, and greater internal complexity.

Enterobius vermicularis

A roundworm known commonly as the butt worm that migrates to the host's anus at night to deposit eggs.

Enterobiasis

A parasitic infection caused by Enterobius vermicularis, most common in children, characterized by an itchy butt and poor sleep.

Scotch tape test

An old-school diagnostic method for Enterobiasis involving applying scotch tape to the anus at night to collect eggs.

Trichinella spiralis

A parasitic roundworm found in wild hog meat that causes disease by burrowing itself into host muscle tissue.

Trichinellosis

A disease acquired by ingesting Trichinella spiralis, primarily presenting with muscle cramping.

Nurse cell

A structure formed by Trichinella spiralis in muscle tissue that facilitates transmission when ingested by a predator.

Anisakis

A parasitic worm living naturally in fish and marine life that causes intestinal pain when humans ingest undercooked seafood.