Protist Diseases (AQA GCSE Biology)

Protists: Basics

• Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic and usually unicellular organisms

• Only a small number of protists are pathogenic, but the diseases they cause are often serious

• Often need a vector to transfer from one host to the next

Malaria

• The pathogens that cause malaria are protists from the Plasmodium family (four species); they have a complex life cycle but can infect red blood cells in humans

• The malarial protist has a life cycle that includes the mosquito as a vector

• Malaria causes recurrent episodes of fever and can be fatal in certain instances

• The spread of malaria is controlled by preventing the vectors, mosquitos, from breeding and by using mosquito nets to avoid being bitten

Part of the malaria life cycle is in humans and the other part is in mosquitos

Malaria table