Parasitology

Generally speaking, parasitology is the branch of microbiology that is concerned with the study of parasites. In the process, it gives focus to various characteristics of the parasite (morphology, life-cycle, ecology, taxonomy, etc), the type of host they infect/affect and the relationship between the two.

In parasitology, parasites have traditionally been restricted to three main groups that include protozoa, helminths, and arthropods. However, they are also described based on where they are located on the host: Ectoparasites (those that live on the host- skin, etc) and endoparasites (those that live inside the body of the host).

As a sub-discipline that studies a wide variety of organisms and relationship with their hosts, parasitology also encompasses some elements of such fields as entomology, helminthology, and epidemiology among other