Answer to Case 519

Answer: Tachyzoites ofToxoplasma gondii. My accompanying request was to list other parasites that can be acquired from eating (undercooked) turkey. The two excellent responses I received from Bernardino Rocha wereGnathostomaspp. (likely, but we ' re not sure), andTrichinella pseudospiralis.Did we miss anything? Please write in if you can think of others.Now, a few fun facts for the curious:The tachyzoites are the rapidly-dividing form ofT. gondii[tachy is from the ancient Greek ταχύς (takhús, “swift”)], and are the predominant form seen in acute and re-activated infections. In this case, the presence of numerous extracellular forms is evidence of an active infection. In contrast, tissue cysts containing bradyzoites, the slowly-replicating forms [brady is from the ancient Greek βραδύς (bradús, “slow”)] are seen during latent infection. The word zoite derives from the ancient Greek ζῷον (zôion, " animal " ). I always make sure to point out word origins to my students when they are useful for remembering parasite names. For example, most medical students know the difference between tachycardia and bradycardia, and know to think of a ' zoo ' as a place where animals are found. Helping them apply the knowledge they already have helps them learn these new, and often very foreign-sounding words.T. gondii can infect any nucleated cell and tachyzoites are commonly seen within host cells during active infection. In this case, we can see both fr...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs