Question

The pathogen and the vector of the malarial parasite respectively are

• A. Plasmodium & Anopheles
• B. Trypanosoma & Culex
• C. Leishmania & sand fly
• D. Wuchereria & Culex

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The pathogen and vector of the malarial parasite respectively are Plasmodium and Anopheles. Malaria, an infectious disease, is caused by a protistan parasite of the genus Plasmodium that is transmitted primarily by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Plasmodium invades and consumes the red blood cells of its host, which leads to symptoms including fever, anaemia, and in severe cases, a coma potentially leading to death. The life cycle of the malaria parasite in a human or animal begins when an infected mosquito transmits malaria sporozoites to a new host. The sporozoites travel to the liver, where they invade hepatocytes (liver cells) and multiply thousands of times over the following two weeks before rupturing out of the liver into the blood stream. During the first 48 hours after infecting a red blood cell, a parasite goes through several phases of development. The first phase is the ring stage, in which the parasite begins to metabolize haemoglobin. The next phase is the trophozoite stage, during which the parasite metabolizes most of the haemoglobin, gets larger, and prepares to reproduce more parasites. Finally, the parasite divides asexually to form a multinucleated schizont. At the end of the cycle, the red blood cell bursts open and the parasites are dispersed to infect more red blood cells.