Diseases and Treatment: IV. Other Parasitic Diseases

Sir Ronald Ross, a doctor in British Indian Army first observed oocysts of plasmodium in the female Anopheles mosquito. He won the Nobel prize in 1902 for his work on malaria.

Filariasis is a parasitic infection caused by thread-like nematodes (filariae) that belong to the roundworm superfamily Filarioidea. These infestations are common in tropical countries such as sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia, the western Pacific Islands, Brazil, and Guyana. The disease spreads from person to person by female Culex mosquito. Edema is one of the most common symptoms of filariasis and can lead to elephantiasis, which is characterized by thickened skin and massive swelling.

The correctly matched lists are as follows:

The correctly matched lists are as follows:

The correctly matched lists are as follows:

Sleeping sickness, also called ‘human African trypanosomiasis’ is a widespread tropical disease that can be fatal if not treated. Sleeping sickness is caused by two different parasites, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. It is spread by the bite of an infected tsetse fly (genus Glossina), a species native to the African continent. The tsetse fly bite erupts into a red sore and within a few weeks, the person can experience fever, swollen lymph glands, aching muscles and joints, headaches, and irritability.

Mosquito-borne diseases are those spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Diseases that are spread to people by mosquitoes include Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, dengue, and malaria.
Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis, is a life-threatening disease caused by related parasite strains, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, transmitted by the tsetse fly.

Malaria, Acute Diarrhoea and Schistosomiasis are the three main communicable diseases in developing countries caused by unsafe water and lack of Sanitation.

The term taeniasis refers to intestinal infection with tapeworms. Three parasite species cause taeniasis in humans: Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), and Taenia asiatica (Asian tapeworm). Only T. solium causes major health problems. T. solium taeniasis is acquired by humans through the ingestion of the parasite’s larval cysts (cysticerci) in undercooked and infected pork. Humans can also become infected with T. solium eggs due to poor hygiene (via the fecal-oral route) or ingesting contaminated food or water. Ingested T. solium eggs develop to larvae (called cysticerci) in various organs of the human body. When they enter the central nervous system (i.e., brain and spinal cord), they can cause neurological symptoms (neurocysticercosis), including epileptic seizures. Hence, both statements are correct.

Leander Paes was forced off the Court of Tennis in 2003 after a cyst was detected in his brain. A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct membrane and division compared to the nearby tissue. Hence, it is a cluster of cells that have grouped together to form a sac. One rather common infection in India causing such a brain lesion is cysticercosis granuloma caused by the larval form of a tapeworm.