Question

Show with the help of a flow chart only, the life-cycle of malarial parasite in human.

Hint:

Order: sporozoites, liver cells, merozoites, RBC multiplication and rupture with fever, then gametocytes taken up by the mosquito.

Answer 1

Step 1: What the question needs:
We must show only the stages of Plasmodium inside the human body, as a flow chart.
The cycle in the human starts when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites.

Step 2: Flow chart of the stages in human:
Sporozoites enter the human blood from the mosquito saliva \( \downarrow \)
Sporozoites reach the liver cells \( \downarrow \)
They multiply asexually in the liver cells and burst the cells, releasing merozoites \( \downarrow \)
Merozoites attack the red blood cells (RBCs) \( \downarrow \)
Asexual multiplication in RBCs; the RBCs burst and release more merozoites with haemozoin, which causes chill and high fever \( \downarrow \)
Some parasites in RBCs develop into gametocytes (male and female) \( \downarrow \)
Gametocytes are taken up by a female Anopheles mosquito when it bites the infected person.

Step 3: Remember:
The sexual stage and the fertilisation take place in the mosquito, not in the human.
A neat boxed flow chart with arrows between these boxes earns the marks.

Final Answer:
Sporozoites, then liver cells, then merozoites, then RBCs, then rupture with fever, then gametocytes taken up by the mosquito.