A parasitic disease is a disease caused or transmitted by a parasite. Many parasites do not cause disease per se. Parasitic diseases can affect practically all living organisms, from plants to man. The study of parasitic diseases is called by parasitology. A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of that host. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. ...
The disease was named after the Brazilian physician and infectologist Carlos Chagas, who first described it in 1909, but the disease was not seen as a major public health problem in humans until the 1960s.
The disease is distributed in the Americas, ranging from the southern United States to southern Argentina, mostly in poor, rural areas of Central and South America.
Until recently, however, Chagas disease was considered a contraindication for the procedure, since the heart damage could recur as the parasite was expected to seize the opportunity provided by the immunosuppression that follows surgery.
The incidence of parasiticdiseases is not only skyrocketing because of increases in international travel and immigration, but also because of contamination of the water and food supply, widespread use of day-care centers that help spread microbes, household pets, the overuse of chemicals, mercury and prescription antibiotics.
Since parasites can also enter through the skin while bathing and walking barefoot or through the bites of insects like ticks and mosquitoes, extra care must be taken.
This disease is caused by a parasitic protozoan, Babesia microti, that infests red blood cells of various animals.
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