5 topics with brief reviews: definitions, key facts, and class questions.
Medical protozoology studies single-celled eukaryotes that cause parasitic diseases in humans. In this section, we examine the morphology, life cycles, and transmission routes of pathogenic flagellates and ciliates.
The material covers the causative agents of urogenital trichomoniasis, sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis), and Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). It also details Leishmania species causing cutaneous and visceral lesions, and Balantidium, the only human-pathogenic ciliate.
In classes and exams, life cycles with alternation of hosts, specific vectors (tsetse fly, triatomine bugs, sandflies), and laboratory diagnostic methods are tested most strictly. Pay special attention to the morphological forms of the parasites (amastigotes, promastigotes, and epimastigotes) at different developmental stages.
Are trichomonads capable of forming cysts to survive unfavorable conditions?
No, all three species of trichomonad exist exclusively in a single form — vegetative (trophozoite). They do not form cysts.
Which stage of trypanosome is infective for humans?
The infective stage is represented by metacyclic trypanosomal forms that accumulate in the salivary glands of the tsetse fly.
At which stage does Trypanosoma cruzi enter the human body?
Infection occurs when the parasite is at the metacyclic trypomastigote stage.
In which cells do Leishmania parasite in humans?
In humans, Leishmania parasites intracellularly within macrophages and cells of the reticuloendothelial system (in the amastigote form).
What is the main source of balantidiasis infection?
The main source and reservoir of the pathogen are domestic and wild pigs. In adult animals, the parasite inhabits as a harmless commensal, yet the animals actively shed infective cysts into the environment.
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