Parasitic Blood Infections

Different Infections

• Parasites can be absorbed through the mouth or skin, and are more common in rural areas than in industrialized lands. Different parasitic blood infections include amebic infections, Ascariasis, Babesiosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Dracunculiasis, Giardiasis, Hookworm Infection, Leishmaniasis, Malaria, Microsporidiosis, Onchocerciasis, Pinworm Infection, Schistosomiasis, Tapeworm Infection, Toxocariasis, Toxoplasmosis, Trichinosis, and Whipworm Infection. In this article we will discuss three of the more common infections and treatments available.
  
  

Malaria

• Malaria is an infection of the red blood cells with one of four kinds of plasmodium, a type of protozoan. Malaria is typically spread through a bite of an infected female mosquito. Sufferers of Malaria typically experience fever, chills, sweating, an enlarged spleen, nausea, fatigue, body aches, and anemia, due to the infected red blood cells. One type of malaria, Falciparum Malaria causes the patient to suffer delirium, confusion, seizures, coma, severe breathing problems, kidney failure, and in some cases, death. As the infection progresses, patients can develop jaundice, and the glucose levels can fall dangerously low.
  
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Tapeworm

• Tapeworm infection resides in the intestines, and occurs when people eat raw or contaminated beef, pork, or freshwater fish. Most sufferers have no symptoms, but some have complained of abdominal discomfort, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. Larval cysts, depending on where they are located, can cause symptoms such as headaches, confusion, and seizures. The pork and beef tapeworms are flat worms that live and grow in the intestines and can grow to 10 feet and reach 30 feet in length.
  
  

Toxoplasmosis

• Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Symptoms of toxoplasmosis include fever, vague ill feelings, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, blurred vision, and eye pain. Usually only people with weakened immune systems show symptoms that also include weakness on one side of the body, coma, confusion, trouble breathing, or organ malfunction. Infected pregnant women can sometimes pass this infection to their fetuses, resulting in serious health problems, stillbirth, and miscarriage. This parasite is known to reside in any place with cats, and it is known to infect a good number of small animals.
  
  

Treatment Options

• For patients with malaria, the main choice of drug is Chloroquine. For malaria that is resistant to Chloroquine, the second option is a dose of quinine plus doxycycline. If the malaria is uncomplicated, then atovaquone-proguanil is chosen, and has less side effects than the quinine.
  
  Tapeworm patients are treated with an antiparasitic medication, such as praziquantel, and corticosteroids can be used to treat the various symptoms. You can prevent ingesting tapeworms by cooking food thoroughly, to a temperature above 135° F (57° C), or through prolonged freezing in order to kill the cysts.
  
  Although most people do not need to be treated for toxoplasmosis, for those adults and infants that do, they are treated with sulfadiazine plus pyrimethamine with leukovorin. Prevention measures include cooking raw meat thoroughly and washing hands after handling raw meat. Pregnant women should avoid all contact with cats, and if not possible to avoid contact, not clean litter boxes without gloves