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Amoebiasis: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention

Amoebiasis is caused by the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica which infects the intestines and can cause diarrhea, colitis, and liver abscess. It is transmitted through the fecal-oral route either directly or indirectly through contaminated food or water. Symptoms include diarrhea, dysentery, fatigue, weight loss, and abdominal pain. Diagnosis involves examining stool samples under a microscope. Treatment consists of medications like tinidazole or metronidazole and rehydration. Prevention focuses on public education around personal hygiene, hand washing, water safety, and sexual contact.

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157 views2 pages

Amoebiasis: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention

Amoebiasis is caused by the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica which infects the intestines and can cause diarrhea, colitis, and liver abscess. It is transmitted through the fecal-oral route either directly or indirectly through contaminated food or water. Symptoms include diarrhea, dysentery, fatigue, weight loss, and abdominal pain. Diagnosis involves examining stool samples under a microscope. Treatment consists of medications like tinidazole or metronidazole and rehydration. Prevention focuses on public education around personal hygiene, hand washing, water safety, and sexual contact.

Uploaded by

christian quiaoit
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Amoebiasis

 is a parasitic infection of the intestines caused by the protozoan Entamoeba


histolytica, or E. histolytica
 It causes diarrhea and colitis. Spread of infection from the intestine can result in
liver abscess (via haemato-genous dissemination).

Etiologic Agent
 Entamoeba histolytica lives in the intestines of infected people.
 Entamoebae are a group of single-celled parasites (living things that live in, or on,
other living organisms) that can infect both humans and some animals.
 There are at least six species of entamoeba that can infect the human gut but only E.
histolytica causes disease.

Mode of Transmission
 Transmission occurs via the fecal–oral route, either directly by person-to-person
contact or indirectly by eating or drinking focally contaminated food or water.
 Sexual transmission by oral-rectal contact is also recognized especially among male
homosexuals.
 Vectors such as flies, cockroaches and rodents can also transmit the infection.

Incubation Period- The average incubation period is 2–4 weeks. Patients may, however,
present months to years after the initial infection.

Period of Communicability- Cases are infectious as long as cysts are present in the feces.
In some instances, cyst excretion may persist for years.

Signs and Symptoms


 Acute amoebiasis can present as diarrhea or dysentery with frequent, small and
often bloody stools.
 Chronic amoebiasis can present with gastrointestinal symptoms plus fatigue, weight
loss and occasional fever. Extraintestinal amoebiasis can occur if the parasite
spreads to other organs, most commonly the liver where it causes amoebic liver
abscess.
 Amoebic liver abscess presents with fever and right upper quadrant abdominal
pain.

Diagnostic Procedure
 stool sample is sent to the laboratory and examined under a microscope. Ideally,
three stool specimens from different days should be examined.
 blood test that looks for evidence of E. histolytica infection in your blood
 biopsy taken at colonoscopy and examined under the microscope can show the
parasites

Treatment Modalities
 Amoebic dysentery
 tinidazole PO
Children: 50 mg/kg once daily for 3 days (max. 2 g daily)
Adults: 2 g once daily for 3 days
 metronidazole PO
Children: 15 mg/kg 3 times daily for 5 days
Adults: 500 mg 3 times daily for 5 days
• If there is no laboratory, first line treatment for dysentery is for shigellosis.
 Oral rehydration salts (ORS) if there is risk of, or if there are signs of dehydration
 Amoebic liver abscess
• tinidazole PO: same treatment for 5 days
• metronidazole PO: same treatment for 5 to 10 days

Nursing Management
 Observe isolation and enteric precaution
 Provide health education about:
 Boil water for drinking or used purified water
 Wash hands before and after defecation or when handling foods
 Provide optimum comfort
 Bland diet without cellulose or bulk-producing food should be maintained.

Prevention
 public education on the importance of personal hygiene
 public education about the importance of hand hygiene after defecation and before
preparing or eating food
 providing information to intending travellers about the risks involved in eating
uncooked vegetables and fruits and drinking potentially contaminated water
 public education about the possibility of transmitting the disease via sexual contact.
 protecting public water supplies from faecal contamination
 investigating the food preparation practices of any implicated local food premises
 boiling and purifying water before consumption in endemic areas.

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