Parasites What are Parasites? - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Parasites

What are Parasites?

Parasites are living things that use other living things - like your body - for

food (nourishment)

and a place to

live .

You can get them from contaminated food or water, a bug bite, or sexual contact.

Parasitic diseases can cause harm to the host, but in most cases, it does not kill the

host

Parasites

range in size from tiny, one-celled organisms called protozoa to worms that can be seen with the naked

eye without a microscope

How Parasites Spread

1. Water

Water is the primary way parasites infect humans.

2. Other

People

Oral route (most common)

Example:

someone has parasites, they use the restroom, do not wash their hands afterwards, then they sit down and use the salt shaker on the restaurant’s table – they have just deposited microscopic eggs onto this object. You are the next person to sit at this table and use the salt shaker – you then lick your finger or even put your hand to your face

-

Ewww

Skin (cutaneous)

Parasites that enter through the skin bore directly through the skin or are introduced through the bites of infected insects (called vectors because they convey or transmit organisms that cause disease). Some parasites enter through the soles of the feet when a person walks barefoot or through the skin when a person swims or bathes in water containing the parasites.

How Parasites Spread

3. Food

Undercooked or raw

meats are a very high source of parasite infections.

Unwashed fruit and vegetables are also a big source of parasite carriers.

In some countries a

nimal manure

and human feces are used as fertilizer. This practice greatly increases the spread of parasites.

At restaurants – sick people handling food and

improperly washed fruits and vegetables

can be sources

for parasites.

How Parasites Spread

4. Travel

In our modern age, world travel is a way of life for many.

Travelers can sometimes bring home parasites that are uncommon to the United States.

How Parasites Spread

5. Animals

Animals can spread diseases

to humans via parasites.

By petting or grooming animals, you are picking up eggs that pass from them to us via hands, nose and mouth.

Animals may help spread

parasite

infected fleas and

ticks

Parasite infected

animal feces are concerns. This is why walking barefoot where animals have defecated is a major source of parasite infections - especially when you CAN'T SEE the actual animal feces - you just happen to be walking where they have been before.

Prevention

Water

Drink water from a municipal supply that has been

treated

Drink unopened bottled water

Food

Eat food that is properly cooked

Wash fruits and vegetables in clean water

Hygiene

Wash your hands after using the restroom or touching infected objects, and after playing with animals and small children

.

Do not

walk barefoot where animals have been known to defecate.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosis

taking samples of blood, stool, urine, phlegm or other infected tissue and examining or sending them to a laboratory for analysis.

Treatment

Rx medication

At-home remedies

Taeniasis

(Tapeworm)

People acquire tapeworms by eating undercooked meat or freshwater fish that contain tapeworm cysts. Tapeworms in the intestine usually cause no symptoms but may cause abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. Though however if they are in the brain, larval cysts cause various symptoms, such as headaches, seizures, and confusion

Bot Fly Larva

Botflies

live in

a

http://youtu.be/C2kuGGmx6DU

variety of places, mostly warm and damp climates including throughout Brazil and Chile, as well as far north as the southern United States.

Only one bot fly species attacks humans, the

Dermatobia

hominis

. Eggs are deposited in animal skin directly, or the larvae drop from the egg: the body heat of the animal induces hatching upon contact. Infestation can be caused by larvae burrowing into the skin of the host animal. They do not kill the host animal, and thus are true

parasites. You

can cause them to suffocate by placing smoke over your wound or tape where they then try to come to the surface and you can then extract these pests.

Lymphatic

Filariasis

A parasitic and infectious tropical disease that is caused by thread-like filarial nematode worms. These worms occupy the lymphatic system, including the lymph nodes, and in chronic cases these worms lead to the disease Elephantiasis – as seen above.