Blood parasite is a general term referring to any number of parasites that live the majority of their life in a host's vascular system. There are many different types of blood-borne parasites. These parasites cause different diseases and there are a variety of symptoms and causes.
Description and Types
Blood parasite are any parasites that live the majority of their life in a host's vascular system. There are many different types of blood borne parasites. One blood parasite, trypanosome, causes chagas and African sleeping sickness. There are a variety of other diseases caused by blood parasites. One well known disease caused by blood parasites is malaria. Another disease, babesiosis is caused by blood parasites from the genus babesia. There are a variety of other blood parasites, such as filariasis, brugia, and mansonella.
Symptoms
There are a wide range of symptoms that could mean the presence of blood parasites. Some early symptoms for the parasitic chagas disease include fever, general discomfort and swelling at bite site. Later symptoms are constipation, abdominal pain, digestive issues and difficulty swallowing. Malaria symptoms may include fever, shaking chills, general discomfort, diarrhea, headache, nausea and vomiting. The diseases that result from blood parasites will cause illness that appears to just be the flu. If you have these symptoms and have been in an area affected by a blood parasite disease within the past 12 months, you should see a doctor immediately.
Causes
The blood parasite trypanosome, is contracted by transmission between humans. The transmission is facilitated only by a blood-sucking fly in Africa, called the tsetse fly. It is not possible for this blood parasite to be transmitted without the help of this fly. Therefore, killing this fly aids in the prevention of diseases caused by this parasite. Another trypanosome parasite that causes chagas disease is spread by reduvid bugs. The parasites that cause malaria are contracted by transmission of blood from one human to another through mosquitoes.
Diagnosis
There are different blood tests your doctor may use to diagnose a blood parasitic disease. One is a serology test. This test looks for antibodies that your body may have been created in response to a parasite. This is used to test generally for parasites, not just blood parasites. Another test used specifically in diagnosis of blood parasites is a blood smear. In this test, a drop of blood is observed under a microscope in order to determine the presence of parasites.
Treatment
There are medications for diseases caused by blood parasites. However, there is a constant struggle to provide viable treatments, because many blood parasites can evolve and become drug-resistant. Therefore, there is a constant search for new drugs to combat blood parasites. The majority of the drugs that experts are focusing on are combination drugs. The problem with this solution is that these types of medications are more expensive. Some of the common medications used to fight malaria include chloroquine, quinine sulfate, hydroxychloroquine, mefloquine and doxycycline. The drugs used for treating chagas disease parasites are benznidazole and nifurtimox.
Prevention
If you are going to travel to a country in which malaria is widespread, you should visit a physician to discuss precautionary treatments. You should do this months beforehand, because you generally need to start taking antimalarial drugs two weeks before leaving. You would take them before the trip, during your entire trip and up to four weeks after your return. However, it is important to consider the sometimes adverse effects that malaria medications can cause before deciding on this action.
There are some other preventative measures that you can take to decrease the danger of blood parasites. You should wear clothes that protect your body from the bugs that transmit blood parasites. Also, wear bug repellent. If you are going somewhere with a high concentration of mosquitoes, you should use netting if there are no screens. Remember, if you are going any place where you may be at risk of getting blood parasitic diseases, you should take necessary actions toward prevention, as recommended by your doctor.
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