Blood parasites directly infest the bloodstream and cause diseases such as malaria, African sleeping sickness, babesiosis, and schistosomiasis. They are most common in tropical and subtropical regions and are spread by mosquitoes, tsetse flies, and ticks.
Blood parasites in humans are responsible for malaraia, African sleeping sickness, babesiosis and schistosomiasis. Blood parasites are different from other types of human parasites because they directly infest the bloodstream, rather than the organs or digestive tract. Most of these parasites are found in tropical and subtropical regions. They are more likely to affect people who live in or travel to less developed regions. There are believed to be four main types of blood parasites that can infest and make humans sick.
Plasmodium species parasites are generally responsible for the tropical disease known as malaria. There are four species of Plasmodium parasites considered capable of infesting humans, P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae. These parasites typically begin their life cycle inside the body of an Anopheles mosquito. When the mosquito feeds on a human, it can infect him with Plasmodium sporozoites, which generally grow inside the body and cause malaria symptoms. The disease can spread when uninfected Anopheles mosquitoes feed on humans infested with Plasmodium blood parasites.
African sleeping sickness is another type of disease generally attributed to human blood parasites. There are believed to be two types of African sleeping sickness, West African sleeping sickness and East African sleeping sickness. Two subspecies of the Trypanosoma brucei parasite are thought to be responsible for these diseases. T. brucei rhodesiense most often causes East African sleeping sickness, while T. brucei gambiense is thought to be responsible for most cases of West African sleeping sickness. These diseases are usually spread by the bite of the tsetse fly.
Blood parasites of the Schistosoma species can cause the disease known as schistosomiasis. Three species of Schistosoma parasites, S. haematobium, S. japonicum and S. mansoni, are believed to cause this disease in humans. They are generally capable of infecting the human host through skin contact alone and can be transmitted most commonly through direct contact with contaminated water. They are most often found in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
The disease known as babesiosis generally occurs after infestation with blood parasites of the Babesia species. B. microti and B. divergens are considered to be the only Babesia species capable of infecting humans. Babesiosis is typically spread to humans through tick bites.
Unlike malaria, babesiosis cannot normally spread from an infected human to an uninfected tick that has bitten that person. Babesiosis may be the most geographically widespread disease caused by human blood parasites. It can be found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.
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