If it kills the host, it’s not a very successful parasite, or it’s a parasitoid as only one other commenter has picked up. It’s not in parasites’ interest to kill their hosts, it usually happens when they infect a non-preferred host and the system responds differently, like the pork tapeworm Taenia solium which doesn’t kill pigs but can be lethal in humans.
A superior parasite would keep the host alive for hundreds of years past it’s normal lifespan, while ensuring that nothing of the host survives.
Parasites should take a lesson from symbiotes and not kill their hosts like dumbasses.
So, interesting and maybe-not-so-fun fact? Most parasites that kill their hosts do so without caring because they can survive elsewhere. We call it a reservoir of infection.
REALLY fun fact, there’s some cool life cycles involved. You remember our old friend anthrax? One of its favorite tricks is killing its host, the zebra. When it dies, the anthrax bacteria go down into the soil beneath the corpse, and put on a fresh new coat of paint and open up shop again. Only, this time, they act as a super friendly bacteria that participates in the nitrogen cycle and ensure that the plants in the soil can get everything they’d ever want out of that oh-so-convenient zebra corpse rotting away up above. Why do they do this? Because in their ‘friendly’ infection of the plants growing (oh, did I forget to mention what plants they infect/cooperate with? It’s grass), they get offered right up to the hungry mouths of the next zebra to come along and see an exceptionally vibrant area of green grass.
I would watch this sequel to osmosis jones
meanwhile chad gut bacteria help us digest food and are actively vital to us being healthy
On a similar note, I visited the medical museum in Bangkok today and it had a whole section on parasites. I’ll never be the same after having viewed that photograph of someone, cheeks spread, and with a pile of worms spilling out.
