Human parasitic diseases
Encyclopedia
This is a list of topics related to human parasitic disease
s. See also the categories shown below.
Parasitologists (Category)
Parasitic disease
A parasitic disease is an infectious disease caused or transmitted by a parasite. Many parasites do not cause diseases. Parasitic diseases can affect practically all living organisms, including plants and mammals...
s. See also the categories shown below.
Diseases
- Acanthamoeba keratitisAcanthamoeba keratitisAcanthamoeba keratitis is a rare disease in which amoebae invade the cornea of the eye.-Causes:In the United States, it is nearly always associated with contact lens use, as Acanthamoeba can survive in the space between the lens and the eye...
- AmoebiasisAmoebiasisEntamebiasis is a term for the infection more commonly known as amoebiasis.It became the preferred term in MeSH in 1991, but the term amoebiasis is used by the World Health Organization and by those working in the field of amoebiasis research....
- AscariasisAscariasisAscariasis is a human disease caused by the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides. Perhaps as many as one quarter of the world's people are infected, with rates of 45% in Latin America and 95% in parts of Africa. Ascariasis is particularly prevalent in tropical regions and in areas of poor...
- BabesiosisBabesiosisBabesiosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with Babesia, a genus of protozoal piroplasms. After trypanosomes, Babesia are thought to be the second most common blood parasites of mammals and they can have a major impact on health of domestic animals in areas without severe...
- BalantidiasisBalantidiasisBalantidiasis is a protozoan infection caused by infection with Balantidium coli.-Symptoms:Symptoms can be local due to involvement of the intestinal mucosa, or systemic in nature and include either diarrhea or constipation.-Treatment:...
- Baylisascariasis
- Chagas diseaseChagas diseaseChagas disease is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector, the blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae most commonly species belonging to the Triatoma, Rhodnius,...
- ClonorchiasisClonorchiasisClonorchiasis is an infectious disease caused by the Chinese liver fluke, Clonorchis sinensis.Clonorchiasis is a known risk factor for the development of cholangiocarcinoma, a neoplasm of the biliary system....
- CochliomyiaCochliomyiaCochliomyia is a genus in the family Calliphoridae, known as blowflies, in the order Diptera. Cochliomyia are commonly referred to as the New World screwworm fly. There are four species in this genus: Cochliomyia macellaria, Cochliomyia hominivorax, Cochliomyia aldrichi, and Cochliomyia minima...
- CryptosporidiosisCryptosporidiosisCryptosporidiosis, also known as crypto, is a parasitic disease caused by Cryptosporidium, a protozoan parasite in the phylum Apicomplexa. It affects the intestines of mammals and is typically an acute short-term infection...
- DiphyllobothriasisDiphyllobothriasisDiphyllobothrium is a genus of tapeworm which can cause Diphyllobothriasis in humans through consumption of raw or undercooked fish. The principal species causing diphyllobothriosis is Diphyllobothrium latum, known as the broad or fish tapeworm, or broad fish tapeworm. D. latum is a pseudophyllid...
- DracunculiasisDracunculiasisDracunculiasis , also called guinea worm disease , is a parasitic infection caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a long and very thin nematode . The infection begins when a person drinks stagnant water contaminated with copepods infested by the larvae of the guinea worm...
(caused by the Guinea worm) - EchinococcosisEchinococcosisEchinococcosis, which is often referred to as hydatid disease or echinococcal disease, is a parasitic disease that affects both humans and other mammals, such as sheep, dogs, rodents and horses. There are three different forms of echinococcosis found in humans, each of which is caused by the larval...
- ElephantiasisElephantiasisElephantiasis is a disease that is characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and male genitals. In some cases the disease can cause certain body parts, such as the scrotum, to swell to the size of a softball or basketball. It is caused by...
- EnterobiasisEnterobiasisA pinworm infection or enterobiasis is a human parasitic disease and one of the most common childhood parasitic worm infections in the developed world. It is caused by infestation with the parasitic roundworm Enterobius vermicularis, commonly called the human pinworm...
- FascioliasisFascioliasisFasciolosis also known as Fascioliasis, Fasciolasis, distomatosis and liver rot, is an important helminth disease caused by two trematodes Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. This disease belongs to the plant-borne trematode zoonoses. In Europe, the Americas and Oceania only F...
- FasciolopsiasisFasciolopsiasisFasciolopsiasis results from an infection by the trematode Fasciolopsis buski, the largest intestinal fluke of humans .-Infection cycle:...
- FilariasisFilariasisFilariasis is a parasitic disease and is considered an infectious tropical disease, that is caused by thread-like nematodes belonging to the superfamily Filarioidea, also known as "filariae"....
- GiardiasisGiardiasisGiardiasis or beaver fever in humans is a diarrheal infection of the small intestine by a single-celled organism Giardia lamblia. Giardiasis occurs worldwide with a prevalence of 20–30% in developing countries. In the U.S., 20,000 cases are reported to the CDC annually, but the true annual...
- GnathostomiasisGnathostomiasisGnathostomiasis is the human infection by the nematode Gnathostoma spinigerum and/or Gnathostoma hispidum, which infects vertebrates.-Synonyms:...
- HymenolepiasisHymenolepiasisHymenolepiasis is infestation by one of two species of tapeworm:* Hymenolepis nana* Hymenolepis diminutaAlternative names are:* Dwarf tapeworm infection* Rat tapeworm-Causes, incidence, and risk factors:...
- IsosporiasisIsosporiasisIsosporiasis is a human intestinal disease caused by the parasite Isospora belli. It is found worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Infection often occurs in immuno-compromised individuals, notably AIDS patients, and outbreaks have been reported in institutionalized groups in the...
- Katayama fever
- LeishmaniasisLeishmaniasisLeishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly...
- Lyme diseaseLyme diseaseLyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most...
- MalariaMalariaMalaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
- MetagonimiasisMetagonimiasisMetagonimiasis is a disease caused by an intestinal trematode, most commonly Metagonimus yokagawai, but sometimes by M. takashii or M. miyatai. The metagonimiasis causing flukes are one of two minute flukes called the heterophyids. Metagonimiasis was described by Katsurasa in 1911-1913 when he...
- MyiasisMyiasisMyiasis is a general term for infection by parasitic fly larvae feeding on the host's necrotic or living tissue. Colloquialisms for myiasis include flystrike, blowfly strike, and fly-blown. In Greek, "myia" means fly....
- OnchocerciasisOnchocerciasisOnchocerciasis , also known as river blindness and Robles' disease, is a parasitic disease caused by infection by Onchocerca volvulus, a nematode . Onchocerciasis is the world's second-leading infectious cause of blindness. It is not the nematode, but its endosymbiont, Wolbachia pipientis, that...
- PediculosisPediculosisPediculosis is an infestation of lice — blood-feeding ectoparasitic insects of the order Phthiraptera. The condition can occur in almost any species of warm-blooded animal , including humans...
- ScabiesScabiesScabies , known colloquially as the seven-year itch, is a contagious skin infection that occurs among humans and other animals. It is caused by a tiny and usually not directly visible parasite, the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, which burrows under the host's skin, causing intense allergic itching...
- SchistosomiasisSchistosomiasisSchistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...
- Sleeping sickness
- StrongyloidiasisStrongyloidiasisStrongyloidiasis is a human parasitic disease caused by the nematode Strongyloides stercoralis, or sometimes S. fülleborni. It can cause a number of symptoms in people, principally skin symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss...
- TaeniasisTaeniasisTaeniasis is a form of tapeworm infection which is caused by tapeworms of the genius Taenia.The two most important human pathogens in the genus are Taenia solium and Taenia saginata . Infection is acquired by eating undercooked contaminated meat. The adult worms live in the lumen of the intestine...
(cause of CysticercosisCysticercosisCysticercosis refers to tissue infection after exposure to eggs of Taenia solium, the pork tapeworm. The disease is spread via the fecal-oral route through contaminated food and water, and is primarily a food borne disease. After ingestion the eggs pass through the lumen of the intestine into the...
) - ToxocariasisToxocariasis-History of discovery:Werner described a parasitic nematode in dogs in 1782 which he named Ascaris canis. Johnston determined that what Werner had described was actually a member of the genus Toxocara established by Stiles in 1905. Fữlleborn speculated that T canis larvae might cause granulomatous...
- ToxoplasmosisToxoplasmosisToxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid family. Animals are infected by eating infected meat, by ingestion of feces of a cat that has itself...
- TrichinosisTrichinosisTrichinosis, also called trichinellosis, or trichiniasis, is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork or wild game infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm Trichinella spiralis, commonly called the trichina worm. There are eight Trichinella species; five are...
- TrichuriasisTrichuriasisTrichuriasis is a parasitic infection primarily in the tissue of the cecum, appendix, colon and rectum that is caused by Trichuris trichiura , an intestinal parasitic nematode .-Agent :...
Pathogens
- AcanthamoebaAcanthamoebaAcanthamoeba is a genus of amoebae, one of the most common protozoa in soil, and also frequently found in fresh water and other habitats. The cells are small, usually 15 to 35 μm in length and oval to triangular in shape when moving. The pseudopods form a clear hemispherical lobe at the anterior,...
- AnisakisAnisakisAnisakis is a genus of parasitic nematodes, which have a life cycle involving fish and marine mammals. They are infective to humans and cause anisakiasis...
- Ascaris lumbricoidesAscaris lumbricoidesAscaris lumbricoides is the giant roundworm of humans, belonging to the phylum Nematoda. An ascarid nematode, it is responsible for the disease ascariasis in humans, and it is the largest and most common parasitic worm in humans. One-sixth of the human population is estimated to be infected by this...
- BotflyBotflyA botfly is any fly in the family Oestridae, which includes all the members of the former families Cuterebridae, Gasterophilidae, and Hypodermatidae. It is the only family of flies whose larvae live as obligate parasites within the bodies of mammals, with the exception of a few screwworm flies in...
- Balantidium coliBalantidium coliBalantidium coli is a parasitic species of ciliate protozoan that causes the disease Balantidiasis. It is the only member of the ciliate phylum known to be pathogenic to humans.-Morphology:...
- BedbugBedbugCimicidae are small parasitic insects. The most common type is Cimex lectularius. The term usually refers to species that prefer to feed on human blood...
- Cestoda (tapeworm)CestodaThis article describes the flatworm. For the medical condition, see Tapeworm infection.Cestoda is the name given to a class of parasitic flatworms, commonly called tapeworms, of the phylum Platyhelminthes. Its members live in the digestive tract of vertebrates as adults, and often in the bodies...
- Chiggers
- Cochliomyia hominivoraxCochliomyia hominivoraxCochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screw-worm fly, or screw-worm for short, is a species of parasitic fly that is well known for the way in which its larvae eat the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. It is present in the New World tropics...
- Entamoeba histolyticaEntamoeba histolyticaEntamoeba histolytica is an anaerobic parasitic protozoan, part of the genus Entamoeba. Predominantly infecting humans and other primates, E. histolytica is estimated to infect about 50 million people worldwide...
- Fasciola hepaticaFasciola hepaticaFasciola hepatica, also known as the common liver fluke or sheep liver fluke, is a parasitic flatworm of the class Trematoda, phylum Platyhelminthes that infects the livers of various mammals, including humans. The disease caused by the fluke is called fascioliasis . F...
- Giardia lambliaGiardia lambliaGiardia lamblia is a flagellated protozoan parasite that colonizes and reproduces in the small intestine, causing giardiasis. The giardia parasite attaches to the epithelium by a ventral adhesive disc, and reproduces via binary fission...
- HookwormHookwormThe hookworm is a parasitic nematode that lives in the small intestine of its host, which may be a mammal such as a dog, cat, or human. Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. A. duodenale predominates in the Middle East, North Africa, India...
- LeishmaniaLeishmaniaLeishmania is a genus of Trypanosomatid protozoa, and is the parasite responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. It is spread through sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus in the Old World, and of the genus Lutzomyia in the New World. Their primary hosts are vertebrates; Leishmania commonly infects...
- Linguatula serrataLinguatula serrataLinguatula serrata is a cosmopolitan zoonotic parasite, belonging to the Pentastomida, also known as tongue worms. They are wormlike parasites of the respiratory systems of vertebrates. They live in the nasopharyngeal region of mammals. Cats, dogs, foxes, and other carnivores are normal hosts of...
- Liver flukeLiver flukeLiver flukes are a polyphyletic group of trematodes .Adults of liver flukes are localized in the liver of various mammals, including humans. These flatworms can occur in bile ducts, gallbladder, and liver parenchyma. They feed on blood...
- Loa loaLoa loaLoa loa is the filarial nematode species that causes Loa loa filariasis. It is commonly known as the "eye worm". Its geographic distribution includes Africa and India....
- ParagonimusParagonimusParagonimus is an important genus of flatworms, or platyhelminths, that includes Paragonimus westermani, an infectious lung fluke endemic to Asia....
- lung fluke - PinwormPinwormThe pinworm , also known as threadworm or seatworm, is a nematode and a common human intestinal parasite, especially in children...
- Plasmodium falciparumPlasmodium falciparumPlasmodium falciparum is a protozoan parasite, one of the species of Plasmodium that cause malaria in humans. It is transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria caused by this species is the most dangerous form of malaria, with the highest rates of complications and mortality...
- SchistosomaSchistosomaA genus of trematodes, Schistosoma, commonly known as blood-flukes and bilharzia, includes flatworms which are responsible for a highly significant parasitic infection of humans by causing the disease schistosomiasis, and are considered by the World Health Organization as the second most...
- Strongyloides stercoralisStrongyloides stercoralisStrongyloides stercoralis, also known as the threadworm, is the scientific name of a human parasitic roundworm causing the disease of strongyloidiasis....
- MiteMiteMites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
- Tapeworm
- Toxoplasma gondiiToxoplasma gondiiToxoplasma gondii is a species of parasitic protozoa in the genus Toxoplasma. The definitive host of T. gondii is the cat, but the parasite can be carried by many warm-blooded animals . Toxoplasmosis, the disease of which T...
- TrypanosomaTrypanosomaTrypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids , a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. The name is derived from the Greek trypano and soma because of their corkscrew-like motion. All trypanosomes are heteroxenous and are transmitted via a vector...
- WhipwormWhipwormThe human tapworm is a roundworm, which causes trichuriasis when it infects a human large intestine. The name whipworm refers to the shape of the worm; they look like whips with wider "handles" at the posterior end.-Life cycle:The female T. trichiura produces 2,000–10,000 single celled eggs per day...
- Wuchereria bancroftiWuchereria bancroftiFilaria, is a parasitic filarial nematode spread by a mosquito vector. It is one of the three parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis, an infection of the lymphatic system by filarial worms. It affects over 120 million people, primarily in Africa, South America, and other tropical and...
Antiparasitic drugs
- ThiabendazoleThiabendazoleTiabendazole is a fungicide and parasiticide.-Fungicide:...
- Pyrantel pamoatePyrantel pamoatePyrantel pamoate or Pyrantel Embonate , is used as a deworming agent in the treatment of hookworms and roundworms in domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, cats, dogs, and many other species. It is a combination of pyrantel and pamoic acid...
- MebendazoleMebendazoleMebendazole or MBZ is a benzimidazole drug developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica and marketed as Vermox, Ovex, Antiox, and Pripsen...
- PraziquantelPraziquantelPraziquantel is an anthelmintic effective against flatworms. Praziquantel is not licensed for use in humans in the UK; it is, however, available as a veterinary anthelmintic, and is available for use in humans on a named-patient basis....
- NiclosamideNiclosamideNiclosamide is a teniacide in the anthelmintic family especially effective against cestodes that infect humans...
- BithionolBithionolBithionol is an anthelmintic used to treat Fasciola hepatica ....
- OxamniquineOxamniquineOxamniquine is an anthelmintic with schistosomicidal activity against Schistosoma mansoni, but not against other Schistosoma spp. Oxamniquine is a potent single-dose agent for treatment of S...
- MetrifonateMetrifonateMetrifonate or trichlorfon is an irreversible organophosphate acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.it is a prodrug which is activated non-enzymatically into 2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate ....
- Ivermectin
- AlbendazoleAlbendazoleAlbendazole, marketed as Albenza, Eskazole, Zentel and Andazol, is a member of the benzimidazole compounds used as a drug indicated for the treatment of a variety of worm infestations. Although this use is widespread in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved...
- BenznidazoleBenznidazoleBenznidazole is an antiparasitic medication used in the treatment of Chagas disease. Its mechanism of action is thought to be inhibition of protein and ribonucleic acid synthesis...
- NifurtimoxNifurtimoxNifurtimox is a 5-nitrofuran and is used to treat diseases caused by trypanosomes including Chagas disease and sleeping sickness. It is given by mouth and not by injection.-Indications:...
- NitroimidazoleNitroimidazole4-Nitroimidazole is an imidazole derivative that contains a nitro group.Several derivatives of nitroimidazole constitute the class of nitroimidazole antibiotics that have been used to combat anaerobic bacterial and parasitic infections. Perhaps the most common example is metronidazole . Other...
See also
- Delusional parasitosisDelusional parasitosisDelusional parasitosis is a form of psychosis whose victims acquire a strong delusional belief that they are infested with parasites, whereas in reality no such parasites are present...
- Host (biology)Host (biology)In biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...
- Human parasitesHuman parasitesHuman parasites include various protozoa and worms which may infect humans, causing parasitic 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...
- Intestinal parasiteIntestinal parasiteIntestinal parasites are parasites that populate the gastro-intestinal tract in humans and other animals. They can live throughout the body, but most prefer the intestinal wall. Means of exposure include: ingestion of undercooked meat, drinking infected water, and skin absorption...
- List of parasites of humans
- Natural reservoirNatural reservoirNatural reservoir or nidus, refers to the long-term host of the pathogen of an infectious disease. It is often the case that hosts do not get the disease carried by the pathogen or it is carried as a subclinical infection and so asymptomatic and non-lethal...
- ParasitismParasitismParasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
- ParasitologyParasitologyParasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life...
Parasitologists (Category)
- ZoonosisZoonosisA zoonosis or zoonoseis any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans or from humans to non-human animals . In a study of 1415 pathogens known to affect humans, 61% were zoonotic...
- Vector (epidemiology)