ABSTRACT
T he m ajority o f in tracellu lar p ro tozoan parasites, after having invaded a host cell (an ery th rocy te o r a gu t epithelial cell), undergo a m ultip licative phase (eg Plasmodium , Eimeriay Leishmania). T he progeny o f the invasive stage escape from the cell to invade o th e r sim ilar cells. T he host cell is irreversib ly dam aged during this process and, as the parasitaem ia increases, m ore and m ore cells are invaded and consequently an increasing nu m b er are destroyed . This leads to either the necrosis o f su rround ing tissue o r the leak ing o f body fluids, particularly if the epthithelial cells o f vessels are dam aged, o r anaem ia if b lood cells are destroyed .
