What is a parasitic infection?
Parasitic infections are any illnesses or conditions caused by parasites living and reproducing in your body. Parasites are organisms that need another living thing (a host) to get the nutrients they need to survive.
Parasitic infections often cause intestinal illness, with symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting. But they can also give you itchy skin rashes or infect other parts of your body, like your brain or lungs.
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What are the types of parasitic infection?
There are three main types of parasites that cause infections in humans:
- Protozoa.
- Helminths.
- Ectoparasites.
Protozoal infections
Protozoa are single-celled parasites. They can infect your blood, intestinal tract (gut), brain, skin, eyes and other parts of your body.
Helminth infections
Helminth is a general term for parasitic worms. Scientists further classify them as flukes (trematodes), tapeworms (cestodes), roundworms (nematodes) and thorny-headed worms (acanthocephalans). Both adults and immature (larval) helminths can infect you. Helminths usually infect your intestinal tract, but they can also infect your skin, brain and other tissues.
Ectoparasitic infections
Ectoparasites are insects and arachnids (spider-like bugs) that burrow into your skin and live there. This includes ticks, mites, lice and fleas. They usually don’t infect other parts of your body.
What are the most common parasitic infections?
Millions of people around the world get parasitic infections every year. The most common parasitic infections include:
Other examples of parasitic infections include:
