Parasitology 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. Fields The study of these diverse organisms means that the subject is often broken up into simpler, more focused units, which use common techniques, even if they are not studying the same organisms or diseases. Much research in parasitology falls somewhere between two or more of these definitions. In general, the study of prokaryotes fall under the field of bacteriology rather than parasitology. Medical parasitology See also: Human parasites One of the largest fields in parasitology, medical parasitology is the subject which deals with the parasites that infect man, the diseases caused by them, clinical piture and the response generated by man against them. It's also concerned with the various methods of their diagnosis, treatment and finally their prevention & control. A parasite is an organism that live on or within another organism called the host . These include organisms such as:

Plasmodium spp., the protozoan parasite which causes malaria. The four species of malaria parasites infective to humans are Plasmodium falciparum,Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium vivax &Plasmodium ovale.

  

Leishmania donovani, the unicellular organism which causes leishmaniasis Entamoeba and Giardia, which cause intestinal infections (dysentery and diarrhoea) Multicellular organisms and worms such as Schistosoma spp., Wuchereria bancrofti, Necator americanus (hookworm) and Taenia spp. (tapeworm)

Ectoparasites such as ticks, scabies and lice

Medical parasitology can involve drug development, epidemiological studies and study of zoonoses. Veterinary parasitology Main article: Veterinary parasitology The study of parasites that cause economic losses in agriculture or aquaculture operations, or which infect companion animals. Examples of species studied are:

Lucilia sericata, a blowfly, which lays eggs on the skins of farm animals. The maggots hatch and burrow into the flesh, distressing the animal and causing economic loss to the farmer

 

Otodectes cynotis, the cat ear mite, responsible for Canker. Gyrodactylus salaris, a monogenean parasite of salmon, which can wipe out populations which are not resistant.

Structural parasitology Main article: Structural parasitology This is the study of structures of proteins from parasites. Determination of parasitic protein structures may help to better understand how these proteins function differently from homologous proteins in humans. In addition, protein structures may inform the process of drug discovery. Quantitative parasitology

Main article: Quantitative parasitology Parasites exhibit an aggregated distribution among host individuals, thus the majority of parasites live in the minority of hosts. This feature forces parasitologists to use advanced biostatistical methodologies. Parasite ecology Parasites can provide information about host population ecology. In fisheries biology, for example, parasite communities can be used to distinguish distinct populations of the same fish species co-inhabiting a region. Additionally, parasites possess a variety of specialized traits and life-history strategies that enable them to colonize hosts. Understanding these aspects of parasite ecology, of interest in their own right, can illuminate parasite-avoidance strategies employed by hosts Conservation biology of parasites Main article: Conservation biology of parasites Conservation biology is concerned with the protection and preservation of vulnerable species, including parasites. A large proportion of parasite species are threatened by extinction, partly due to efforts to eradicate parasites which infect humans or domestic animals, or damage human economy, but also caused by the decline or fragmentation of host populations and the extinction of host species. Parasite - organism which lives at the expense of (and may even harm) its host; the parasite is generally smaller than the host and is metabolically dependent upon it Symbiosis Symbiosis (from Ancient Greek sn "with" and b sis "living") is close and often long-term interactions between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis (which previously had been used of people living together in [2] community) to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens. In 1879 by the German mycologist Heinrich Anton de Bary, defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms. In biology, the term phoresis is an inter-species biological interaction in ecology and refers to a form of symbiosis where the symbiont, termed as the phoront, is mechanically transported by its host. Neither organism is physiologically dependent on the other. It is a symbiotic relationship in which one organism is transported by another; such as, the hypopus nymph of certain mites, which is adapted to clinging to arthropods or mammals for transport. Mutualism is any relationship between individuals of different species where both individuals derive a benefit. Generally, only lifelong interactions involving close physical and biochemical contact can properly be considered symbiotic. Mutualistic relationships may be either obligate for both species, obligate for one but facultative for the other, or facultative for both. Many biologists restrict the definition of symbiosis to close mutualist relationships. Commensalism describes a relationship between two living organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or helped. It is derived from the English word commensal used of human social interaction. The word derives from the medieval Latin word, formed from com- and mensa, meaning "sharing a table". Commensal relationships may involve one organism using another for transportation (phoresy) or for housing (inquilinism), or it may also involve one organism using something another created, after its death (metabiosis). Examples of metabiosis are hermit crabs using gastropod shells to protect their bodies and spiders building their webs on plants. Parasitism A parasitic relationship is one in which one member of the association benefits while the other is harmed. Parasitic symbioses take many forms, fromendoparasites that live within the host's body to ectoparasites that live on its surface. In addition, parasites may be necrotrophic, which is to say they kill their host, or biotrophic, meaning they rely on their host's surviving. Biotrophic parasitism is an extremely successful mode of life. Depending on the definition used, as many as half of all animals have at least one parasitic

phase in their life cycles, and it is also frequent in plants and fungi. Moreover, almost all free-living animals are host to one or more parasite taxa. An example of a biotrophic relationship would be a tick feeding on the blood of its host. The main groups of parasites are as follows: Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

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Phylum: Acanthocephala (spiny-headed worms) Phylum: Annelida (segmented worms) o Class: Hirudinea (leeches) Phylum: Arthropoda (insects) o Subphylum: Chelicerata  Class: Arachnida  Order: Astigmata (mites)  Order: Metastigmata (ticks) o Subphylum: Crustacea  Class: Branchiura  Order: Arguloida  Class: Cirripedia  Order: Rhizocephala o Subphylum: Atelocerata  Class: Hexapoda  Order: Anoplura (sucking lice)  Order: Diptera (flies)  Order: Hymenoptera (bees,wasps,ants)  Order: Mallophaga (chewing lice)  Order: Siphunculata (fleas) Phylum: Nematoda (roundworms) o Class: Adenophorea o Class: Secernentea o Class: Strongylida o Class: Tylenchida Phylum: Platyhelminthes (flatworms,tapeworms,flukes) o Class: Cestoda (tapeworms)  Subclass: Cotyloda (pseudotapeworms) o Class: Trematoda (flukes)  Subclass: Digenea (flukes)  Subclass: Monogenea (flukes) o Class: Turbellaria (flatworms)

Kingdom: Protista (single-celled organisms)

Phylum: Alveolates o Group: Apicomplexa o Group: Foraminifera o Group: Dinoflagellata o Group: Ciliata  Class: Litostomatea o Group: Diplomonadida o Group: Euglenida o Group: Kinetoplastida o Group: Parabasalia

An obligate parasite is a parasitic organism that cannot live independently of its host. An obligate parasite is a parasite that must be with its host, or it dies. Obligate parasitesdepend on the presence of a host to complete their life cycle. Obligate parasites are common. There are parasitic plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals. The inverse of an obligate parasite is a facultative parasite, a parasite that can complete its life cycle independent of a host. One of the most standard obligate parasites are viruses. It is an organism that cannot lead an independent nonparasitic existence. facultative parasite

An organism that may either lead an independent existence or live as a parasite. accidental parasite A parasite in other than its normal host; an incidental parasite. a parasite which has infected an unusual host incidental parasite A parasite living on a host other than its normal host. accidental parasite one that parasitizes an organism other than the usual host. facultative parasite one that may be parasitic upon another organism but can exist independently. incidental parasite accidental parasite. obligate parasite, obligatory parasite one that is entirely dependent upon a host for its survival. periodic parasite one that parasitizes a host for short periods. temporary parasite one that lives free of its host during part of its life cycle. monoxenous living on only one kind of host throughout its life cycle heteroxenous parasite n. A parasite that has more than one obligatory host in its life cycle.

Microbial Interactions with Humans (Host-Parasite Relationships) Principles of Infectious Disease Definitions Host - organism which provides nutrients, etc. to another organism Parasite - organism which lives at the expense of (and may even harm) its host; the parasite is generally smaller than the host and is metabolically dependent upon it Disease - an upset in the homeostasis of the host, resulting in generation of observable changes o symptom - subjective evidence of damage to the host (headache, anorexia) o sign - objective evidence of damage to the host (fever, rash, vomiting) Infectious disease - one in which detrimental changes in health of the host occur as a result of damage caused by a parasite Pathogen - microorganism that is capable of causing disease Virulence - a measure of pathogenicity, which is the ability to cause disease o Virulent - microorganisms that readily cause disease (only small numbers of the microorganism are required to initiate and sustain infection) o Opportunistic - microorganisms that may or may not cause disease generally colonize, but do not infect, the host when usually found associated with a host, called normal microbiota, can cause disease if they are inadvertently introduced into a site where they do not usually reside, especially inside host tissues o Avirulent - microorganisms that do not cause disease o Attenuated - microorganisms with reduced ability to cause disease

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