The parasitology is the name that receives that discipline that is part of Biology and that deals especially with the study of parasites. It should be noted that the parasite is a type of animal or plant organism that is characterized by living on another species, that is, it feeds on another organism which ends up weakening it. He usually fails to kill him. In some cases parasitism is considered a special kind of predation.
Meanwhile, the species in which the parasite settles is formally referred to as host or host and as we indicated above lines, once the parasite lodges in your being, it will begin to suffer a series of alterations and deterioration in its health, while on the contrary, this interaction will bring innumerable benefits to the parasite.
It is also a common case that the parasite at some point becomes a host for another parasite called as hyperparasite. Thus, the hyperparasite lives thanks to the parasite and the latter thanks to the host, generating a chain of parasites.
Although, as we pointed out, the action of the parasite is harmful to the host, over time, it manages to develop defense mechanisms that can eliminate the parasite or reduce its disastrous action.
On the other hand, Parasitology also deals with studying those diseases that are triggered in animals, humans and plants due to parasites, their effects, scope and the way to neutralize them.
The study of parasites dates back to ancient times, for example, the philosopher Greek Aristotle knew how to identify in the third century BC to a group of worms and from then on various scientists and scholars would advance remarkably in this matter.
Parasitology is divided into three branches according to its object of study: clinical parasitology (it is dedicated to the study of parasites that attack humans), zooparasitology (deals with studying parasites that affect animals) and phytoparasitology (studies the parasites present in plants).
