Travel Guide to the Tropics: Amoebiasis

Transmission 

People become infected through the ingestion of materials like food or water that have come in contact with fecal matter containing the parasite.

It is ingested in the protazoa's "cyst" (dormant) form.

In the small intestine, the cysts mature into trophozoites which then multiply into more cysts through binary fission.

The new cysts are excreted in feces and the remaining trophozoites may infect extra-intestinal regions such as the liver.

 History

• Discovered by Friedrich Losch in 1873. He found large amounts of the bacteria Entamoeba Histolytica in the feces of a young farmer who was suffering from chronic dysentery.
• Similar symptoms of the disease were recorded in Sanskrit documents dating back to 1000 BC.
• The hepatic (liver) and intestinal forms of Amoebiasis become increasingly widespread around the 16th century, as European trade and conquest began to grow.

• Affects the intestines and in rare cases, the liver
• Only about 10-20% of people show symptoms
• stomach pain and cramping
• diarrhea
• weight loss
• fatigue
• fever
• dysentery
• liver abscesses
• vomiting
• rare spreading of the parasite to other vital organs such as the brain

• Avoid alcoholism (this weakens the liver, making it more prone to infection.
• Increased personal hygiene.
• Water Purification
• Development of health programs to ensure proper sanitation and disposal of waste.

Treatment

• Chemotherapy--aggressiveness of the treatment depends on the severity of the disesase.
• If left untreated, the patient may be prone to liver damage, re-infection, and death.