Amebiasis - Symptoms and Treatment of Amebiasis

Amebiasis is the infection with the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica. There are two basic types of amebiasis: intestinal and extraintestinal disease, which may exist simultaneously. About 10% of the world's population is infected by either E. histolytica or E. dispar, resulting in 50 million cases of invasive amebiasis and 100,000 deaths. Amoebiasis most commonly affects young to middle-aged adults. Extraintestinal Amebiasis most often results in liver abscess, but any organ may be involved. It can also spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or brain, but this is very uncommon. Diagnosis of invasive amebiasis depends on the presenting symptoms, detection of antiamebic antibodies, and blood in the stool, a finding that should lead to examination of the stool for trophozoites. You can get Amebiasis if you swallow food or water that has been infected with the parasite or if you have contact with the stool of a person who is infected. According to a report in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, amebiasis causes 40 million to 50 million serious illnesses and 40,000 to 110,000 deaths worldwide every year.

If you're traveling to an area with poor sanitation, taking a few precautions can protect you from amebiasis and other diseases. A severe form of amebiasis causes stomach pain, bloody stools, and fever. Liver abscesses and brain or lung infections occur infrequently.

Causes of Amebiasis

Amebiasis is most prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries where standards of public hygiene and sanitation may be low. The encrysted form of Entamoeba histolytica is swallowed in the contaminated food or water. Within the large intestine, the cysts develop into motile trophozooites (active forms) that burrow into the walls of the large intestine and cause ulcers. These trophozooites can burrow ithrough the intestinal walls into the blood vessels and spread to other parts of the body like liver.

Symptoms of Amebiasis

Even less commonly, it spreads to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or brain. The symptoms often are quite mild and can include

• loose stools
• stomach pain
• stomach cramping.
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal cramps and pain
• Dysentery : blood and mucus in the stool
• Tenderness along the large intestine

Diarrhea and abdominal pain set in within 2-6 weeks of Amebiasis. This leaves residue of abdominal cramps and recurrent 'mucusy' stools called as Chronic Amebic Colitis. Amebiasis can cause Hepatitis once its affect the liver.

Treatment of Amebiasis

• The choice of drug for the treatment of the amebiasis are depends on the type of clinical presentation and the site of drug action.
• Amebicides like Metronidazole, Tinidazole
• Patients with hepatic amebiasis are treated with metronidazole 750 mg po tid for 10 days or 500 mg IV every 6 hours for 10 days.
• Severe dysentry may lead to hospitalisation for IV fluids and Metronidazole
• Treatment is only available by prescription from a health care provider. Infections may require two different types of medication given in sequence to cure the infection.

There are many prescription drugs prescribed by doctor to treat amebiasis. Some of them are given below:

Nitroimidazole Drugs - This type of drugs are very good in killing amoebas in the blood, in the wall of the intestine and in liver abscesses. These drugs include metronidazole (Flagyl) and tinidazole (not available in the United States) . Metronidazole usually is given for 10 days, either by mouth or directly into the veins (intravenously).

Luminal Drugs - Three types of Luminal Drugs are known to kill amoebas and cysts confined to the intestine, these include - iodoquinol (Diquinol and others), paromomycin (Humatin) and diloxanide furoate (Furamide) . In people who pass amoebas in their stools without having symptoms of amebiasis, the luminal drugs alone can clear the amoebas from the bowel.

It is not usually necessary to isolate an amebiasis infected person, since casual contact at work or school is not likely to transmit the disease. Special precautions may be needed by food handlers or children enrolled in day care.

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