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For my project, I decided to research Echinococcus Parasites and how they affect the human brain and other internal organs. These parasites infect the host and can cause a disease known as Echinococcosis which causes hydatid cysts and other symptoms such as pain and vomiting. I brought this research to life using glass painting to describe the Echinococcus tapeworm and the hydatid cysts it creates within the brain and other internal organs it can infect.
The objective that this piece correlates to is “compare and contrast sensory cells” under the nervous system unit, and my partner correlated this to how the tapeworm affects the brain when the parasite turns into the disease Echinococcosis. The Echinococcus parasites are transmittable from animals to humans, and when humans are infected the worms can be found in the intestines, brain, lungs, kidneys and in other parts of the body as my partner signified in her picture. This particular type of parasite is a worm, and is referred to as a hydatid worm. The reason it is called the hydatid worm is because it can cause a disease, Echinococcosis which causes hydatid cysts, hence the name Hydatid Disease. Hydatid cysts in Echinococcosis can be deadly if not treated, and can attack your organs causing systematic failure. Addison did an excellent job doing this glass painting showing how the disease can spread to your internal organs, and she also drew the tapeworm in great detail. These worms have an interesting life cycle; they are asexual, meaning that they can mate with out another worm to reproduce, and they have multiple hosts starting with an intermediate host and a definitive host. This particular project was very interesting to read, and I really enjoyed the creative artwork that Addison did to display her knowledge on the subject.