RT Book, Section
A1 Barroso II, Luis F.
A1 Guerrant, Richard L.
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 7029095
T1 Chapter 302. Microsporidiosis
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7029095
RD 2024/04/19
AB Microsporidia  is  a  nontaxonomic  term  referring  to  an  extensive  group  of  unicellular  organisms  classified  in  the  phylum  Microspora.  Previously  considered  to  be  primitive  protists,  they  have  been  reclassified  as  fungi.1  All  microsporidia  lack  mitochondria,  are  obligate  intracellular  parasites,  and  possess  a  characteristic  coiled  extrusion  apparatus  consisting  of  a  polar  tubule  anchored  to  an  anterior  disk  within  the  spore.  This  apparatus  is  capable,  upon  extrusion,  of  penetrating  the  host  cell  membrane  and  injecting  the  infectious  sporoplasm  material  into  the  cytoplasm  where  the  life  cycle  begins  (Fig.  302-1).  Of  over  1200  species  known,  at  least  14  species  of  microsporidia  have  been  described  that  are  capable  of  infecting  humans  (Table  302-1).2  The  pattern  of  infection  varies  depending  on  the  species  of  microsporidia  and  the  immune  status  of  the  host.