Review of Related Disease (RRD) 5 Practice Exam

Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite. Protozoa are single-celled eukaryotic organisms, distinct from bacteria (prokaryotes) and viruses (not cells that replicate inside host cells). The malaria parasites, Plasmodium species, have a complex life cycle involving stages in the human liver and red blood cells and transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes. This intracellular, parasitic lifestyle is characteristic of protozoans, not bacteria, viruses, or fungi. So the agent behind malaria is best described as a protozoan.