Plasmodium - Mnemonics for different species, their diseases and dots

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Mnemonics for different species of Plasmodium with their causing disease and dots or granules.

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Plasmodium is an endoparasite, intracellular parasite, blood parasite and pathogenic parasite. Plasmodium complete its lifecycle in two hosts, viz. human and female Anopheles mosquito. Charles Laveran first discovered Plasmodium in human blood as a causative agent of malaria in human. Ronald Ross discovered the presence of Plasmodium in the gut wall of female Anopheles mosquito.

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There are mainly four species of Plasmodium which causes malaria to human being. They are:

1) Plasmodium vivax
2) Plasmodium falciparum
3) Plasmodium malariae
4) Plasmodium ovale

Similarly, all these four species of Plasmodium causes respective type of malaria. Here is a list of malarial diseases caused by these four species respectively.

a) Benign tertian malaria
b) Malignant tertian malaria
c) Benign quartan malaria
d) Benign sub-tertian malaria

Not only the disease they causes are differ, they have got different type of granules or dots too. These granules are seen in the cytoplasm of RBC cells of human during the erythrocytic schizogony. These are yellow and orange eosinophillic granules of unknown nature. Here is the list of these granules present in different malarial parasite respectively.

-Schuffner's granules/dots
-Maurer's dots
-Ziemann's dots
-Jame's dots

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Now come to the mnemonics.

To learn these all four types of Plasmodium species with their disease and dots present on them, you have to memorize these three easy mnemonics.

1) Victor Fried My Onion.

2) Beauty Tips Made This Barbie Queen Beautiful & Sweet.

3) Save My Zebra jacket.

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If you have learned these three mnemonics then let's ahead to their implications.

First mnemonic is for serially remembering of their species. So that you won't get confused on later mnemonics.

@Victor Fried my Onion.

Victor = V = Plasmodium vivax
Fried = F = Plasmodium falciparum
My = M = Plasmodium malariae
Onion = O = Plasmodium ovale

Now,

Second mnemonic is for the types of malaria they cause.

@Beauty Tips Made This Barbie Queen Beautiful & Sweet.

Beauty Tips = B T = Benign tertian malaria
Made This = M T = Malignant tertian malaria
Barbie Queen = B Q = Benign quartan malaria
Beautiful & Sweet = B S = Benign sub-tertian malaria

Similarly,

Third Mnemonic is for their granules or dots.

Save My Zebra Jacket.

Save = S = Schuffner's dots
My = M = Maurer's dots
Zebra = Z = Ziemann's dots
Jacket = J = Jame's dots

All these extract of mnemonics are arranged serially. That means;

1) P. vivax = Benign tertian malaria = Schuffner's dots.

2) P. falciparum = Malignant tertian malaria = Maurer's dots.

3) P. malariae = Benign quartan malaria = Ziemann's dots.

4) P. ovale = Benign sub-tertian malaria = Jame's dots.

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Here are some more informations for you from Plasmodium topic.

1) All Plasmodium causes Benign malaria except P. falciparum. 
2) All Plasmodium causes tertian malaria except P. malariae.
3) Alternation of generation is found in Plasmodium.
4) Longest incubation period is found in P. malariae.

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Thank you.

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