Plasmodium
is a one-celled parasite (Phylum Protozoa) that causes malaria in humans. Because Plasmodium has no means of locomotion, it is a member of the class Sporozoa. Plasmodium is transmitted by the bite of a female Anopholes mosquito. The mosquito is the definitive host for Plasmodium because in her the sexual cycle of Plasmodium development occurs. Humans are the intermediate host for Plasmodium, in which the asexual cycle occurs. Plasmodium multiplies inside human red blood cells, as seen in these 1000 X images. Finding Plasmodium inside the red blood cells is diagnostic. Four species of Plasmodium cause malaria in humans: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, and Plasmodium ovale. P. falciparum is the most lethal for humans. It frequently produces ring forms inside the red blood cells P. vivax is the most predominant type in the world. P. falciparum, P. vivax, and P. malariaeare the three species that most commonly cause human malaria.
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| 1. P. falciparum | 2. P. falciparum | 3. P. falciparum | 4. P. falciparum | 5. P. malariae |
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| 6. P. malariae | 7. P. ovale | 8. P. ovale | 9. P. vivax | 10. P. vivax |
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