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Entamoeba histolytica
Published in Peter D. Walzer, Robert M. Genta, Parasitic Infections in the Compromised Host, 2020
William A. Petri, Jonathan I. Ravdin
Amebiasis is a potentially invasive enteric disease caused by the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. The spectrum of human disease includes asymptomatic intestinal colonization, invasive colitis, liver abscess, intestinal perforation, and peritonitis. Appreciation of the global magnitude of amebic disease coupled with recognition of groups at high risk for amebic infection in the United States has recently stimulated research on a disease initially described over a century ago.
Antigens
Published in Roberto R. Kretschmer, Amebiasis: Infection and Disease by Entamoeba histolytica, 2020
One of the pillars of the diagnosis of amebiasis is still the demonstration of amebic antigenic material in stools, blood or tissue of affected organs. The first attempt to demonstrate free circulating antigen in amebiasis was through the surface fixation test, that demonstrated the simultaneous existence of specific anti-amebic antibodies and total antigens of the amebas in 18% of sera from patients with amebiasis.149 Using ELISA and radioimmunoassay (RIA) with polyclonal antibodies, 89.5 to 100% of patients with amebic abscess of the liver had circulating antigens.150-158
Unexplained Fever in Obstetrics
Published in Benedict Isaac, Serge Kernbaum, Michael Burke, Unexplained Fever, 2019
One should remember the possibility of malaria and schistosomiasis especially if the patient has returned from tropical countries. Amebiasis can present either as dysentery or as an amebic abcess.6, 17, 28
The management of Babesia, amoeba and other zoonotic diseases provoked by protozoa
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2023
Clemente Capasso, Claudiu T. Supuran
Entamoeba histolytica is a pseudopod-forming, non-flagellated protozoan parasite that can cause amebiasis when a person becomes infected with it [35]. Amebiasis is more prevalent in those countries with tropical and subtropical locations and poor sanitation (Africa, Mexico, parts of South America, and India), although everybody may be at risk [36,37]. When viewed through a microscope, certain parasites can appear strikingly similar to E. histolytica, making diagnosis rather challenging [35]. Amebiasis can cause no symptoms at all, or it can progress to a severe illness characterized by amebic colitis (inflammation of the colon) and amebic liver abscess [36]. In the developing world, where diarrhea is the third largest cause of mortality among children under the age of 5 (accounting for 9% of all fatalities in this age group), amebic colitis is one of the top 15 causes of diarrhea in the first two years of life [36,38]. Fulminant amebic colitis is the most severe and life-threatening complication of amebiasis, presenting with bloody diarrhea, fever, leukocytosis, and stomach pain. Necrosis, toxic megacolon, perforation, and peritonitis may also occur [39].
Overcoming challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of parasitic infectious diseases in migrants
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2020
Francesca F. Norman, Belen Comeche, Sandra Chamorro, Rogelio López-Vélez
Amebiasis is an enteric protozoan disease caused by Entamoeba histolytica. The most common clinical presentations of disease are amoebic colitis and amebic liver abscess, but approximately 90% of infected individuals are asymptomatic carriers [94]. This infection is an important public health problem in many developing countries, an estimated 50 million people are affected annually worldwide, and the disease may also affect travelers and their contacts [95]. The only reservoir is human, and infection occurs via ingestion of food or water contaminated with cyst-containing fecal material. Human to human transmission has also been reported through oral-genital and oral-anal contact [96]. Many Entamoeba species infect humans and some are morphologically indistinguishable from E. histolytica (E. moshkovskii, E. dispar, and the newly described E. Bangladeshi) [97]. Only E. histolytica and E. moshkovskii produce symptoms but there is recent controversy regarding the pathogenic potential of E. dispar [97,98].
Association of Helicobacter pylori and protozoal parasites in patients with chronic diarrhoea
Published in British Journal of Biomedical Science, 2018
J Yakoob, Z Abbas, R Khan, K Tariq, S Awan, MA Beg
In developing countries, co-infections with different pathogens are common, and are attributable the feco-oral transmission of bacterial and parasite pathogens brought about by the poor quality of the water consumed by the population at large living in unhygienic conditions, i.e. overcrowding, poor toilet facilities, and absence of quality health care [1]. The prevalence of intestinal parasites such as Blastocystis sp, Giardia duodenalis and Entamoeba sp., etc. has been estimated as 53% in children residing in an urban slum of a metropolitan city of Karachi, Pakistan [2]. Symptoms of abdominal discomfort and or pain, nausea and irregular bowel habit such as diarrhoea are associated with Entamoeba histolytica, Blastocystis sp and G. duodenalis infection. Amoebiasis is a faecal-oral route transmitted infection with the amoebas of the Entamoeba group. The symptoms of amoebiasis vary in severity from mild to severe and include loose stools, abdominal cramping, and abdominal pain. These are usually associated with infection by E. histolytica, but there are also reports of Entamoeba moshkovskii infection [3,4]. Microscopically, E. moshkovskii, Entamoeba dispar and E. histolytica are indistinguishable and require PCR test using specific primers for differentiation.