Amoebiasis

Gastrointestinal disease, which may manifest as cutaneous ulcers, diarrhoea and liver abscesses.

• Endemic in tropics and subtropics.
• In Central Europe, however, the prevalence is only approx. 1%.
• Increasingly found in homosexual men.

• Trigger: poor hygienic conditions, homosexual contacts.
• Pathogen: Entamoeba histolytica (mainly in endemic areas) and E. dispar (mainly in homosexuals)

• Acute diarrhoea
• Ulcers in perineal/genital area
• Liver abscess

• Histories regarding travel, sexual orientation and symptoms
• Clinical
• Stool
  • Culture
  • ELISA (pathogen detection)
  • PCR

• Biopsy

• When liver abscesses are suspected- ultrasound

Metronidazole 10 mg/kg bw (max. 800 mg) 3 times a day i.v. or orally for 10 days

after

Paromomycin 500 mg 3x tgl. p.o. for 10 days

1. Aguilar-Rojas A, Olivo-Marin JC, Guillen N. The motility of Entamoeba histolytica: finding ways to understand intestinal amoebiasis. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2016 Dec;34:24-30.
2. Shirley DA, Moonah S. Fulminant Amebic Colitis after Corticosteroid Therapy: A Systematic Review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Jul 28;10(7):e0004879. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004879. eCollection 2016 Jul. 
3. Campos-Rodríguez R, Gutiérrez-Meza M, Jarillo-Luna RA, Drago-Serrano ME, Abarca-Rojano E, Ventura-Juárez J, Cárdenas-Jaramillo LM, Pacheco-Yepez J. A review of the proposed role of neutrophils in rodent amebic liver abscess models. Parasite. 2016;23:6. doi: 10.1051/parasite/2