Parasitology Overview

This flashcard set covers various classes of parasites including arthropods, nematodes, cestodes, trematodes, amoebae, ciliates, flagellates, and sporozoans, along with their key characteristics.

Pediculus humanus

Human body louse, characterized by smaller pinchers and an elongated body.

Phthirus Pubis

Pubic lice, known for its squat body.

Pulex irritans

Common flea, a parasite that feeds on blood.

Cimex Lectularis

Bedbug, an insect that infests living spaces and feeds on human blood.

Dermacenter

Ticks, arachnids that often transmit diseases.

Sarcoptes scabiei

Mite that causes scabies, marked by intense itching.

E vermicularis

Pinworm, noted for its jellybean shape and thin outer wall.

Trichuris trichiura

Whipworm, identifiable by its polar plugs on the eggs.

Ascaris lumbricoides

Roundworm, with fertile eggs being decorticated and infertile eggs having a bumpy outer edge.

Hookworm

Includes Americanus and Duodenale; characterized by an ova shell that doesn’t stain.

Strongyloides stercoralis

Threadworm, recognized for its Rhabditiform with a short buccal cavity.

Trichinella spiralis

Causes trichinosis, with nurse cells in the host.

Dracunculus medinensis

Guinea worm, which is pulled out of the skin.

Wuchereria bancrofti

Causes lymphatic filariasis; microfilariae found in peripheral blood.

Hymenolepis nana

Cestode known for hexacanth larvae with polar filaments.

Hymenolepis diminuta

Cestode without polar filaments.

Taenia spp.

Includes solium and saginata; known for their distinctive proglottids.

Echinococcus granulosus

Forms hydatid cysts in organs.

Diphyllobothrium latum

Cestode with large oval ova and operculum, known for its sucking grooves.

Fasciola hepatica

Trematode with ellipsoidal large ova and thin shell.

Clonorchis sinensis

Chinese liver fluke, recognized by its vase-like shape.

Paragonimus westermani

Lung fluke with ovoid eggs and flattened shoulders.

Schistosoma mansoni

Trematode with a large lateral spine.

Entamoeba histolytica

Amoeba causing dysentery, with cysts having 1-4 nuclei.

Entamoeba coli

Amoeba with cysts having 1-8 nuclei; usually non-pathogenic.

Iodamoeba buetschlii

Amoeba with atypical karyosome and large glycogen vacuole.

Naegleria fowleri

A pathogenic amoeba; trophs found only in humans.

Acanthamoeba

Cyst with a double wall and spiny projections.

Balantidum coli

Ciliate with a large cyst having macro and micronucleus.

Giardia lamblia

Flagellate with cysts that resemble a face, causing gastrointestinal distress.

D. fragilis

Flagellate with a fragmented karyosome, found only in humans.

Trichomonas vaginalis

Flagellate with 4 anterior flagella and half-length undulating membrane.

Trypanosoma brucei

Flagellate causing African sleeping sickness, characterized by a full-length undulating membrane.

Trypanosoma cruzi

Flagellate causing Chagas disease, known for its ‘C’ shaped trypomastigote.

Leishmania

Protozoan with amastigotes in tissue macrophages.

Plasmodium falciparum

Protozoan causing malaria; trophozoite presents as a thin ring.

Plasmodium malariae

Protozoan with single rings; forms 'basket' shapes.

Plasmodium vivax

Malaria parasite known for Schuffner’s dots in the trophozoite stage.

Babesia

Protozoan characterized by 'Maltese cross' merozoites.

Toxoplasma gondii

Protozoan with tachyzoites in an encysted form within tissues.