Consider the following statement: “All bacteria can be classified as parasites”

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Briefly justify your response. (2-3 sentences) (2 marks)

Candida auris infections are of increasing importance because:

A bone marrow transplant patient on immunosuppressive therapy develops a fever and begins coughing up blood. A lung mass is identified and cultures confirm infection with Aspergillus fumigatus. 

Which statement best describes this pathogen?

A patient presents with fever and cough, and a sputum sample is collected for testing. Laboratory culture of the sample shows spherical budding cells when incubated at 37°C, but branching filamentous structures when incubated at 25°C.  How should this organism be classified?

Guinea worm disease is on track to become the second human disease to be successfully eradicated. Which of the following has had a positive impact on efforts to control and reduce transmission of Dracunculus medinensis?

The diagram above depicts the lifecycle of intestinal hookworm, which is a Soil Transmitted Helminth (STH). Using this information, which of the following would be an appropriate strategy to prevent the transmission of intestinal hookworm?

A 35-year-old man develops seizures. Brain imaging shows cystic lesions and biopsy reveals larvae encysted in neural tissue. Which helminth is the most likely cause of this presentation?

A stool sample from a patient with abdominal pain is examined under the microscope. The pathologist observes a multicellular worm with a cylindrical non-segmented body.

How would you classify this helminth?

Leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease that can cause cutaneous or visceral infections in humans. Which arthropod vector is responsible for transmitting this protozoan to humans?

A patient is diagnosed with trypanosomiasis after laboratory tests confirm the presence of trypanosomes in the blood. Despite mounting antibody responses, the infection persists. 

Which immune evasion strategy is used by the trypanosomes to enable this persistence?