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Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by an intracellular protozoan parasite (genus Leishmania) transmitted by the bite of a sand fly. The disease is present in scattered areas worldwide. Human infection is caused by 20 Leishmania species that are morphologically indistinguishable but can be differentiated by laboratory analysis. Leishmania promastigotes are transmitted by sand flies to vertebrate hosts. The clinical spectrum of […]

Lymphatic filariasis, considered globally as a neglected tropical disease (NTD), is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic, thread-like worms. The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body’s fluid balance and fights infections. Lymphatic filariasis is spread from person to person by mosquitoes. People with the disease can suffer from lymphedema and elephantiasis and […]

American trypanosomiasis, also known as Chagas disease, affects millions of people throughout the Americas. Carlos Chagas first described this disease in 1911 when he discovered the parasite in the blood of a Brazilian child with fever, lymphadenopathy, and anemia. Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan hemoflagellate, is the parasite that causes this disease. When humans are infected, the parasite can cause acute […]

Malaria is due to infection with specific protozoa of the Plasmodium genus. It is transmitted by the bite of an infective female Anopheles mosquito. The malaria parasite undergoes a single sexual cycle in the mosquito and recurrent asexual cycles, with the production of sexual forms (gametocytes) in man. Clinical features: The initial incubation period of malaria is 9-11 days. Malaria symptoms include […]

Infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) first appears as a transient flu-like illness. There then follows a variable period of good health which may last many years. The HIV virus has tropism for lymphocytes expressing CD4 antigen (T helper cells). HIV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI). It can also be spread by contact with infected blood or from mother […]

Infectious Mononucleosis (Glandular Fever), also known as mono, is due to infection by the Ebstein-Barr herpes Virus (EBV). Background: The disease was first described in the 1920s. The virus spreads through saliva, which is why it’s sometimes called “kissing disease“. the incubation period for mono is four to eight weeks. Using contaminated items, such as drinking glasses or toothbrushes, can spread the […]