parasitemia

Thân thiện

A doctor examines a blood slide showing parasitemia under a microscope.

Definition

Noun: A medical condition characterized by the presence of parasites in the bloodstream. It is a sign of an active parasitic infection, often used in the context of diseases like malaria.

Usage

The term is used in medical and scientific contexts to describe a state of infection. It is typically quantified or described in terms of severity (e.g., high or low parasitemia).

Examples

• The patient's high parasitemia required immediate antimalarial treatment.
• A blood smear is used to diagnose and measure the level of parasitemia.
• The study monitored the decrease in parasitemia following drug administration.

Advanced Usage

• Quantitative parasitemia: Refers to the measurement of the number of parasites per volume of blood (e.g., parasites/μL).
• Submicroscopic parasitemia: Denotes a level of infection where parasites are present in the blood but are not detectable by standard microscopy, often requiring more sensitive molecular tests.

Variants and Related Words

• Parasitaemia: An alternative spelling, chiefly used in British English.
• Parasitic (adj): Relating to or caused by parasites.
• Parasite (n): An organism that lives on or in a host organism, getting its food at the host's expense.

Synonyms

• Parasitaemia (variant spelling)
• Blood parasite infection (descriptive phrase)

Notes on Meaning

The term specifically refers to parasites in the blood. The presence of parasites in other tissues or organs would be described with different terms (e.g., intestinal parasitosis).

Học thuật

Noun

1. a condition in which parasites are present in the blood

Từ đồng nghĩa

• parasitaemia