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Category: Clinical Microbiology
Amebiasis, an Emerging Disease, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555816988/9781555812164_Chap12-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555816988/9781555812164_Chap12-2.gifAbstract:
Today, amebiasis is commonly found in nearly all tropical and subtropical countries. Improved diagnostic tests are beginning to overturn some of the commonly held beliefs about amebiasis. Amebiasis outbreaks in developed nations have resulted from contamination of water supplies with sewage secondary to inadequate water maintenance and treatment. Four glycolytic isoenzymes (glucosephosphate isomerase, phosphoglucomutase, hexokinase, and malic enzyme) exhibit different migration patterns on gel electrophoresis. The cytologic diagnosis of amebiasis is neither specific nor sensitive. Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar are identical in appearance. Since in most areas E. dispar is more common than E. histolytica, this makes cytologic diagnosis extremely nonspecific. Detection of the Gal-GalNAc lectin antigen in serum can be used to identify E. histolytica infection. The application of riboprinting techniques may therefore provide a better understanding of the epidemiology of amebiasis, including different modes of transmission. One study investigated 105 cases of travelers returning from regions of endemicity and residents of those regions, with infection with E. histolytica and/or E. dispar identified by microscopic detection. Twenty-one of 60 isolates were identified as E. histolytica by PCR and hexokinase isoenzyme, including isolates from 13 of 26 infected patients with amebiasis-like symptoms. The other important group to affect the epidemiology of amebiasis in the United States is the immigrant population, especially Hispanic and Pacific Islander immigrants and Indochinese refugees.
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Sensitivity and specificity of tests of diagnosis for amebiasis in patients with colitis and liver abscess a
Sensitivity and specificity of tests of diagnosis for amebiasis in patients with colitis and liver abscess a