Table 1.
Statistics relating to important human diseases caused by some parasitic protozoa.
| parasite | disease | geographical distribution | disease incidence and mortality in 2002a |
|---|---|---|---|
| trypanosomatids | |||
| Trypanosoma brucei | African sleeping sickness | East and West Africa | 60 million at risk, 48 000 deaths |
| Trypanosoma cruzi | Chagas' disease | South and Central America | 100 million at risk, 18 million cases, 14 000 deaths |
| Leishmania species | Leishmaniasis | tropics and sub-tropics | 350 million at risk, 12 million cases, 51 000 deaths |
| apicomplexans | |||
| Plasmodium falciparum | malaria (including cerebral malaria) | sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia and the Americas | 2400 million at risk, 1.27 million deaths |
| Toxoplasma gondii | toxoplasmosis | global | see belowb |
| other parasitic protozoa | |||
| Giardia | giardiasis (includes severe diarrhoea) | global (prevalent in hot countries) | total deaths from all diarrhoeal diseases: 1.8 million (many in tropical countries) |
| Entamoeba histolytica | amoebic dysentery | global (prevalent in hot countries) | |
| comparisons with other pathogens | |||
| HIV | AIDS | global | 2.78 million deaths |
| Mycobacterium tuberculosis | tuberculosis | global | 1.57 million deaths |
a
Figures taken from World Heath Organization statistics for 2002.
b
Rarely causes disease in healthy individuals, although approximately one-third of humanity has been exposed. However, infection does cause severe neurological disorders in congenitally infected children and severe pathology in immunodeficient individuals.