Celtnet Medicine: Parasitic Diseases

Parasitic Diseases

Welcome to the Celtnet Medicine Parasitic Diseases information page. Here you will find information about what constitutes a parasitic disease, as well as a comprehensive listing of parasitic diseases and links to the various parasitic diseases described in detail on this site.

To be termed a 'parasitic disease' a diseased needs to be caused by what's termed a parasitic organism; that is, an organism that lives off another organism (called a host) and does harm to the host. To be classed as a Parasitic Diseases the organism that is the parasite must, in some way, live off the hosts taking resources from the host and using them for its own benefit.

What Constitutes a Parasitic Disease?

In medical terms, a parasite is defined as an eukaryotic (ie multi-celled) organism that steals resources from the host, often for a prolonged period of time. Typically the parasite is much smaller than the host and has evolved a high degree of specialization to be able to live on their hosts. In most cases the parasite reproduces in much greater numbers and far more quickly than the host.

In most cases parasites do not directly kill their hosts (where this is the case it's known as parasitoidism) but they can weaken the host to such an extent that the host can be killed more readily by predation or by secondary infections or other parasites.

Many parasites live and feed directly from the host and they move directly from host to host. Ectoparasites live on the surface of the host and these includes fleas, mites and scabs. In contrast, endoparasites live within the hosts.

In fact, there are two types of endoparasites: intercellular parasites inhabit spaces in the host's body and these types of parasites include tapeworms, hookworms, flukes etc. intracellular parasites live within the cells of the body and these include bacteria and viruses that, technically, are parasites though they are not often referred to as such in a medical context.

Many bacteria and viruses require help in moving from host to host and this carrier is known as a vector. The most well known vector-borne disease is malaria which is caused by a species of protozoan from the genus Plasmodium (the malarial parasite) and the vector is the anophelid mosquito the females of which feed on blood and transfer the malarial parasite by their bite.

Organisms Causing Infectious Diseases

Ectoparasites

Common Name	Latin Name	Body Part Affected	Link
Bedbug	Cimex lectularius	Skin
Head Louse	Pediculus hamanus	hair follicles
Body Louse	Pediculus hamanus corporis	hair follicles
Crab Louse	Phthirus pubis	Pubic hair follicles, eyelashes
Scabies	Sarcoptes scabiei	skin

Endoparasites

Protozoan Organisms

Common Name	Latin Name	Body Part Affected	Link
Babesiosis	Babesia spp	red blood cells
Balantidiasis	Balantidium coli	intestinal mucosa
Blastocystosis	Blastocystis spp	intestines
Coccidia	Cryptosporidium spp	intestines
Dientamoebiasis	Dientamoeba fragilis	intestines
Amoebiasia	Entamoeba histolytica	intestines
Giardia	Giardia lamblia	intestines
Isosporiasia	Isospora belli	epithelial cells of small intestine
Leishmaniasis	Leishmania spp	cutaneous, mucocuaneous or visceral
Primary Amoebic Meningoencaphalitis (PAM)	Naegleria fowleri	brain
Malaria	Plamodium falciparum (over 80% of cases) Plasmodium vivas, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae	red blood cells	link to malaria information
Rhinosporidiosis	Rhinosporidium seeberi	nose, nasopharynx
Toxoplasmosis (and Parasitic Pneumonia)	Toxoplasma gondii	eyes, brain, heart, liver
Trichomoniasis	Trichomonas vaginalis	urogenital tract
Sleeping sickness	Trypanosoma brucei	blood and lymph systems
Chagas disease	Trypanosoma cruzi	body cells and blood

Helminths (worms)

Common Name	Latin Name	Body Part Affected	Link
Ancylostoniasia	Ancylostoma duodenale	intestines (duodenum)
Roundworm (parasitic pneumonia)	Ascaris lumbricoides	intestines, liver, heart, lungs
Roundworm	Baylisascaris spp	skin
Filariasis, Elephantiasia	Brugia malayi, Brugia timori	lymph nodes
Tapeworm infection	Cestoda spp	intestines
Clonorchiasis	Clonorchis sinensis, Clonorchis viverrini
Dicrocoelium infection	Dicrocoelium dendriticum	gall bladder
Diphyllobothriasis (tapeworm)	Diphyllobothrium latum	intestines
Dracunculiasia (Guinea worm)	Dracunculus medinensis	subcutaneous tissues, muscle
Echinococcosis (tapeworm)	Echinoccus spp	liver, lungs, kidneys, spleen
Echinostomiasia	Echinostoma echinatum	small intestine
Pinworm (Enterobiasis)	Enterobius vernicularis, Enterobius gregorii	intestines
Liver Fluke (Fasciolosis)	Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica	intestines, liver
Fasciolopsiasis (intestinal fluke)	Fasciolopsis buski	intestines
Gnathostomiasis	Gnathostoma spinigerum, Gnathostoma hispidum	subcutaneous tinssues
Hymenolepiasis	Hymenolepis nana, Hymenolepis diminuta
Loa Loa filariasia, Calabar swellings	Loa loa filaria	connective tissues
Mansonelliasis, Filariasis	Mansonella streptocerca	subcutaneous layers of the skin
Hookworm, Parasitic Pneumonia, Necatoriasis	Necator americanus	intestines
Onchocerciasis	Onchocercidae spp
Opisthorchis diease	Opisthorchis viverrini, Opisthorchis felineus	bile duct
Paragonimiasis	Paragonimus spp	lungs
Schistosomiasis, Bilharzia, Snail Fever	Schistosoma mansoni (intestinal shistosomiasis) Schistosoma haematobium (urinary schistosomiasis) Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma mekongi (Asian intestinal schistosomiasis)	intestines, urinary tract (depending on species)
Sparganosis	Spirometra erinaceieuropaei
Strongyloidiasis (Parasitic Pneumonia)	Strongyloides stercoralis	intestines
Beef tapeworm	Taenia saginata	intestines
Pork tapeworm	Taenia solium	intestines
Toxocariasis	Toxocara canis, Toxocara cati	brain, heart, eyes
Trichinosos	Trichinella sprialis	muscle
Swimmer's itch	Trichobilharzia regenti, Schistosomatidae
Whipworm	Trichuris trichiura, Trichuris vulpis	large intestine
Elephantiasia	Wulchereria bancrofti	lymph system

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Parasitic Diseases Links

Malarial Infection

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