Amoebiasis - Symptoms and Treatment

Amoebiasis is caused by Entamoeba histolytica which leads to an intestinal infection causing severe diarrhoea. It is usually contracted by ingesting water or food contaminated by amoebic cysts. Amoebiasis occurs when the parasites are taken in by mouth. People with amoebiasis have Entamoeba hisolytica parasites in their faeces. Amoebiasis can affect people living anywhere in the world, but is most common where living conditions are crowded or there is poor hygiene and sanitation. Amoebiasis is common in parts of Africa, Central America, South America, India and Southeast Asia. The parasite can cause ulcers to form in the intestine resulting in amoebic dysentery. Under these circumstances the diarrhoea becomes watery and bloody, the abdominal pain becomes more severe, and fever develops. Amoebiasis occurs when Entamoeba histolytica parasites are taken in by mouth and the most common way this happens is by person to person spread. About 90 percent of Amoebiasis infections are asymptomatic and the remaining 10 percent produces a spectrum varying from dysentery to amoebic liver abscess. Around one in ten people who are infected with amoebiasis become ill from the disease. Amoebic abscesses may form in the liver, lungs, and brain and elsewhere in the body. It can either occur as intestinal or extra-intestinal amoebiasis. Amoebiasis, a type of gastro, is a cause of diarrhoea among travellers to developing countries. There are other forms of amoebiasis caused by swimming in contaminated ponds or by exposure to monkeys. In order to diagnose this disorder, blood test can be performed, and is positive in more than 90 percent of patients with invasive amoebiasis.

Amoebiasis can be prevented by good hygiene and sanitary conditions. It occurs when a person eats or swallows something that has been infected with the entamoeba histolytica parasite. Barium studies are contraindicated in acute amoebic colitis for fear of perforation. Acute intestinal amoebiasis should be differentiated from organisms causing traveller's diarrhoea and also inflammatory bowel disease. Amoebas can spread via the circulation to the liver and cause liver abscesses. The infection may spread further by direct extension from the liver or through the bloodstream to the lungs, brain, and other organs. People with amoebiasis may experience mild or severe symptoms or no symptoms at all, the common are stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea, sometimes containing blood, loose stools, abdominal tenderness and occasional fever and weight loss. By frequently washing your hands you are eliminating the amoebiasis parasite that you have picked up from contaminated surfaces, from other people, or from animals and animal waste.

Causes of Amoebiasis

Common Causes of Amoebiasis :-

• Eating or Drinking contaminated water or food is one of the primary cause of amoebiasis.
• The infection spreads when infected people do not dispose of their faeces in a sanitary manner or do not wash their hands properly after going to the toilet.
• Eating a food on which mosquito had sat, after sitting on the stool of a person infected with entamoeba histolytica, may lead to amoebiasis.
• Contaminated hands can then spread the parasites to food that may be eaten by other people and surfaces that may be touched by other people.
• This paper describes the unexpected occurrence of the disease in three adult males, two with colitis and the other with an hepatic abscess.
• Amoebiasis is especially common in parts of the world where human faeces are used as fertiliser and is more likely to affect people who live or have travelled in developing countries, where sanitation and hygiene is poor.
• Eating Non-Veg foods (meat and intestines of animals - goat, pig, beef, etc.), may lead to the condition of amoebiasis.
• Eating vegetables and fruits which have been contaminated by the harmful bacteria, may cause amoebiasis.

Symptoms of Amoebiasis

Some common Symptoms of Amoebiasis :-

• Severe stomach pain.
• Abdominal (stomach) cramps.
• Vague gastrointestinal distress.
• Loose stools.
• Blood-stained stools.
• Drinking contaminated water.
• Foul smelling stools.
• Pain when pressure is applied over the liver, just under the ribs on the right side.

Treatment of Amoebiasis

• An anti-diarrhoeal medication may also be prescribed. Metronidazole can produce a metallic taste in the mouth and may give rise to nausea. Alcoholic drinks must be avoided while taking metronidazole .
• Children with amoebiasis should not attend school while they are infected.
• Metronidazole , or a related drug such a tinidazole , is used to destroy amebae that have invaded tissue.
• Usually, in Allopathy, a course of anti-protozoal (Metronidazole) is given for eliminating the amoebic trophozites. This will work very temporarily, i.e. till its eggs or cysts get hatched
• While travelling avoid eating uncooked foods, particularly vegetables and fruit which cannot be peeled before eating in order to prevent Amoebiasis.

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