hello! I hope you are well, lately I have been a little away from hive, since these weeks the university has kept me quite busy and I have been studying for the midterm that I have to present soon, however, I want to tell you that I am very happy to share with you one of the practices that I did in the subject of parasitology and that I really find beautiful and interesting.

One of the things I like about my career is the study at the microscopic level of the cells, tissues and organs of our body (histology), as this allows us to understand how it is integrated, creating each of the systems we know and we can study determinately, how we function at the macroscopic level. All these cells, tissues, organs and systems can be affected when some pathogenic agent enters us to destabilize the proper functioning of our body and thus, produce the disease.

Parasitology is a science that belongs to the area of biology and deals with the study of parasites or the phenomenon known as parasitism. Parasites are living microorganisms that depend on a host for their survival, i.e. they live at the expense of another living organism. These small but harmful animals can live inside the host, which will be known as endoparasites and among them we find helminths (worms) or protozoa that can cause diseases such as toxocariasis, amebiasis, among others. We can also find parasites that live outside the host, such as the louse (the cause of pediculosis), the Sarcoptes scabiei mite, the parasite that causes scabies, the tick, among others.

In this unit we began to study endoparasites and it is really very interesting how these microorganisms are, their evolutionary cycle, the way in which they infect us and everything they can cause in the being they decide to inhabit in order to develop and live.

In the laboratory there are previously prepared slides with these parasites and we observe through the microscope how their structure is. It is important to know that each parasite follows a different pathway in its host and one or more organs may be affected.

Ascaris lumbricoides

In this cross-section slide, you can see the nematode Ascaris lumbricoide, the cause of ascariasis or also known as ascaridiasis. This parasite lodges in the small intestine of humans, specifically in the jejuno-ileum area. It can cause hepatomegaly (liver enlargement), ascaridian appendicitis, acute peritonitis, pancreatitis, among others.

Here in this image you can see the egg of the parasite which is brown in color and has an oval or circular shape.

Toxocara cati

This is a histological section of the lung tissue where Toxocara Cati, the cause of toxocariasis, is lodged. This parasite also lodges in the small intestine and can inhabit other organs such as the lung, heart, brain and eye. This small worm can cause retinal detachment, hepatomegaly, lung granulomas and brain lesions.

Trichuris trichiura

This parasite that you see in the image is the cause of the parasitic disease known as trichuriasis or trichocephalosis. This parasite, which is whip-shaped and pearly white, lodges in the large intestine in the lumen portion of the cecum, the ascending colon and also in the appendix. It can produce hemorrhagic foci in the intestinal wall, ulcers, desquamation of the mucosa lining the colon, among others.

Enterobius vermicularis*

This parasite called Oxiuro enterobius vermicularis is the cause of enterobiasis which is a parasitic disease of very wide worldwide distribution, especially in tropical and subtropical countries, it can also spread directly from person to person, without the need to pass through the soil. It usually lodges in the large intestine causing slight erosions in the mucosa.

All these parasites cause a series of symptoms and signs that trigger a series of diseases that, if not treated properly, can be very harmful to our health.

• El lavado correcto de las manos, puesto que se transmiten si tenemos contacto con las heces.
• Lavado de los alimentos que consumimos sobre todo las frutas y hortalizas, ya que estos parásitos crecen por un periodo de tiempo en la tierra.
• Evitemos abonar con heces humanas.
• Hervir el agua
• Si tenemos mascotas como perros y gatos, debemos recolectar las heces y descartarlas en una bolsa y más si los sacamos a pasear, ya que la toxocariasis se transmite al tener contacto con la materia fecal de estas mascotas.
• Mejorar las condiciones ambientales
• Educación sanitaria

Among the preventive measures that can be applied to avoid infection with these microorganisms are the following:

• The correct washing of hands, since they are transmitted if we have contact with feces.
• Washing the food we eat, especially fruits and vegetables, since these parasites grow for a period of time in the soil.
• Avoid fertilizing with human feces.
• Boil water
• If we have pets such as dogs and cats, we should collect their feces and discard them in a bag, especially if we take them for a walk, since toxocariasis is transmitted by contact with the fecal matter of these pets.
• Improve environmental conditions
• Health education

Espero que este post informativo les sea útil. Pronto estaré nuevamente compartiendo otros temas con ustedes. Un abrazo.

I hope you find this informative post useful. Soon I will be sharing other topics with you again. Best regards!

Las fotografías son de mi autoría. Las tomé directamente del microscopio durante la clase de parasitología. / The photographs are my own. I took them directly from the microscope during the parasitology class.

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Traductor/ Translator deepl