Apicomplexa

Robert S. Desowitz tells the story of two well-known diseases that affect many rural villagers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America of his novel The Malaria Capers. The first section of the book deals with Kala azar, which is transmitted by a fly. Desowitz begins the novel by introducing a tragic story in India of a distressed mother with a sick child. She traveled miles from her small village to a clinic, where her daughter was diagnosed with Kala azar or Visceral Leishmaniasis. The child is accurately diagnosed, but in the ends of dying because the mother cannot afford the medication to treat the disease. This tragic event is a repeated story throughout the next few chapters that Desowitz uses to compare how individuals in these areas struggled with the evolution of this new tropical disease. He also details the epidemiology and history of Kala azar throughout these next chapters, where he mentions several scientists that had impact on this disease such as the vector, parasite, and the symptoms associated with it. He mentions Robert Koch, Patrick Manson, Otto Wucherer, William Boog Leishman, and Charles Donovan as a few of these scientists. At this time, they also uncovered many of the vectors behind many other of the diseases that were overwhelming these areas accidentally. These new scientific ideas of vectors and complex life cycles were emerging much faster than the scientific community as a whole could understand and accept them. Desowitz then goes into the frustration…

Plasmodium is a parasite with over 100 species, but only four directly affect humans(“Malaria Parasites”). This parasite affects the circulatory system, or cardiovascular system(Coolidge-Stolz 78). Even though it’s microscoping in size, it can cause a lot of damage. It has many things that structure it, and some are even in common with animals (“Structure of Plasmodium Merozoite”). The parasite gets into the body from mosquitoes and infects the bloodstream(“Plasmodium”). The plasmodium parasite…

Harpreet Kaur (100297319) INTRODUCTION Chagas disease is a zoonosis disease and is caused by a transmission of parasite T. cruzi through insect vectors triatomine bugs to humans. The fecal matter of triatomine bugs which are infected with parasite T. cruzi is the main mode of transmission of parasite to humans. The main species of vectors which are responsible for 80% cases of Chagas disease in endemic areas are Triatoma infestans, T. brasiliensis, T. dimidiate, T. soadida, and Rhodinus…

blood test to determine whether there indeed are parasites in your system. If a women were to be pregnant, the doctors will as well perform various test on the child, which could be ultrasounds to check if there are any fetal abnormalities or antibody test on umbilical cord blood. There are many ways that Toxoplasmosis can be spread or inherited. Most common ways that it is spread is usually through contact with cats or with anything or anyone who already have these parasites. Although, in many…