Plasmodium falciparum 4 14.jpg

Taxonomy: f. Plasmodidae
Animal: Plasmodium falciparum 4 14.jpg
Sites: Blood
Comment:
Plasmodium falciparum female gametocyte in thin film. Gametocytes appear after 10 days of parasitaemia and remain in the blood for 2-3 weeks after the attack. The female gametocyte is more crescentic shaped with sharply rounded or pointed ends and compact masses of chromatin near the centre with black pigment round the nucleus c.f. the male which is more kidney shaped with blunt rounded ends and fine chromatin and pigment granules throughout. The cytoplasm of the female is usally more blue than appears here (while the male is redish-blue) but it does depend on the staining technique.

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