Details
Category: Volume 07 Issue 06 June 2019
Hits: 997

Title: Do Entamoeba histolytica commonly infect children?

Authors: Mona Mohamed Tolba, Omneya Magdy Omar, Ahmed Abdelfattah Abdelaziz Aboelhassan, Magdy Abd El fattah Ramadan

 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v7i6.187

Abstract

Introduction: Gastrointestinal infections are commonly present in developing countries specially tropical regions. Infections of the gastrointestinal tract can be caused by viruses, bacteria, protozoa, helminths or fungi. Among pathogenic intestinal protozoa causing diarrhea, Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia are the most frequently encountered in both industrialized and developing countries. Cryptosporidium parvum is now recognized as an important cause of diarrhea in young children and immunocompromized adults.

Methods: Hundred and six children with diarrhea were enrolled in the study and stool samples were collected and examined for parasitic infections. The aim of this study is to assess the true infection by pathogenic E. histolytica in children attending emergency department of Alexandria university children's hospital with diarrhea. Comparison between microscopic examination and antigen detection using ELISA in diagnosing and confirming of E. histolytica infection was done.

Results: E. histolytica/dispar was present in 7out of 106 cases (6.6%) by microscopic examination and 3 out of 106 cases (2.8%) by ELISA technique for E.histolytica/dispar stool antigen and only 1out of 106 cases (0.94%) by ELISA technique specific for E.histolytica stool antigen.

Conclusions: E. histolytica is one of the uncommon causes of diarrhea in children and should be diagnosed using ELISA technique specific for E. histolytica stool antigen which is more specific and sensitive than stool microscopic examination.

Keywords: diarrhea; Entamoeba histolytica; diagnosis; microscopy; ELISA

References

  1. Fontaine O, Kosek M, Bhatnagar S, Boschi-Pinto C, Chan KY, Duggan C, et al. Setting research priorities to reduce global mortality from childhood diarrhea by 2015. PLoS Med 2009; 6(3):e1000041.
  2. Massoud NM, Said DE, El-Salamouny AR. Prevalence of Cyclospora cayetanensis among symptomatic and asymptomatic immune-competent children less than five years of age in Alexandria, Egypt. Alex J Med 2012; 48(3):251–9.
  3. Mustafa H, Palombo EA, Bishop RF. Epidemiology of astrovirus infection in young children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in Melbourne, Australia, over a period of four consecutive years, 1995 to 1998. J Clin Microbiol 2000; 38(3):1058-62.
  4. Ono K, Rai SK, Chikahira M, Fujimoto T, Shibata H, Wada Y, et al. Seasonal distribution of entero-pathogens detected from diarrheal stool and water samples collected in Kathmandu, Nepal. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 2001; 32(3):520-6.
  5. Stark D, Van Hal S, Fotedar R, Butcher A, Marriott D, Ellis J, et al. Comparison of stool antigen detection kits to PCR for diagnosis of amebiasis. J Clin Microbiol 2008; 46(5):1678-81.
  6. El-Dib NA. Entamoeba histolytica: an Overview. Curr Trop Med Rep 2017; 4(1):11-20.
  7. Field M, Rao MC, Chang EB. Intestinal electrolyte transport and diarrheal disease. N Engl J Med 1989; 321(12):800-6.
  8. Davis PH, Zhang Z, Chen M, Zhang X, Chakraborty S, Stanley Jr SL. Identification of a family of Bsp-A like surface proteins of Entamoeba histolytica with novel leucine rich repeats. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2006; 145(1):111.
  9. Stanley Jr SL. Amoebiasis. Lancet 2003; 361(9362):1025-34.
  10. Macpherson C, Gottstein B, Geerts S. Parasitic food-borne and water-borne zoonoses. Rev Sci Tech 2000; 19(1):240-58.
  11. Choudhuri G, Rangan M. Amebic infection in humans. Indian J Gastroenterol 2012; 31(4):153-62.
  12. Ravdin J, Petri W. Entamoeba histolytica (amebiasis). In: Mandell R, Douglas G, Bennett J (eds). Principles and practice of infectious diseases. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone; 1990.  2036-49.
  13. Evangelopoulos A, Spanakos G, Patsoula E, Vakalis N, Legakis N. A nested, multiplex, PCR assay for the simultaneous detection and differentiation of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar in faeces. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2000; 94(3):233-40.
  14. Khairnar K, Parija SC. Detection of Entamoeba histolytica DNA in the saliva of amoebic liver abscess patients who received prior treatment with metronidazole. J Health Popul Nutr 2008; 26(4):418.
  15. Sargeaunt P. The reliability of Entamoeba histolytica zymodemes in clinical diagnosis. Parasitol Today 1987; 3(2):40-3.
  16. Schwartz B, Mawhorter S, Practice AIDCo. Parasitic infections in solid organ transplantation. Am J Transplant 2013; 13(s4):280-303.
  17. Singh A, Houpt E, Petri WA. Rapid diagnosis of intestinal parasitic protozoa, with a focus on Entamoeba histolytica. Interdiscip Perspect Infect Dis 2009; 2009:547090.
  18. Garcia LS. Diagnostic Medical Parasitology. 6th ed. Washington, DC.: ASM Press; 2016. pp.26-76.
  19. Haque R, Neville LM, Hahn P, Petri W. Rapid diagnosis of Entamoeba infection by using Entamoeba and Entamoeba histolytica stool antigen detection kits. J Clin Microbiol 1995; 33(10):2558-61.
  20. Field A. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. 4th ed. London, California, New Delhi: SAGE Publications Ltd; 2013.
  21. Osman M, El Safadi D, Cian A, Benamrouz S, Nourrisson C, Poirier P, et al. Correction: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Intestinal Protozoan Infections with Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Blastocystis and Dientamoeba among Schoolchildren in Tripoli, Lebanon. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10(4):e0004643.
  22. Ajjampur SS, Gladstone BP, Selvapandian D, Muliyil JP, Ward H, Kang G. Molecular and spatial epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis in children in a semiurban community in South India. J Clin Microbiol 2007; 45(3):915-20.
  23. Fletcher SM, Stark D, Harkness J, Ellis J. Enteric Protozoa in the Developed World: a Public Health Perspective. Clin Microbiol Rev 2012; 25(3):420-49.
  24. Kurt O, Demirel M, Ostan I, Sevil NR, Mandiracioglu A, Tanyuksel M, et al. Investigation of the prevalence of amoebiasis in Izmir province and determination of Entamoeba spp. using PCR and enzyme immunoassay. New Microbiol 2008; 31(3):393.
  25. Nimri LF. Evidence of an epidemic of Blastocystis hominis infections in preschool children in northern Jordan. J Clin Microbiol 1993; 31(10):2706-8.
  26. Monib M, Hassan A, Attia R, Khalifa M. Prevalence of intestinal parasites among children attending Assiut University Children’s Hospital, Assiut, Egypt. J Adv Parasitol 2016; 3(4):125-31.
  27. El-Sehry NM, Fouda LM, Hassan L. Prevalence of parasitic Infections and its Effect on the Health Status of Primary School Children. IOSR J Nurs Health Sci 2017; 6(4):41-52.
  28. Hegazi MA, Patel TA, El-Deek BS. Prevalence and characters of Entamoeba histolytica infection in Saudi infants and children admitted with diarrhea at 2 main hospitals at south Jeddah: a re-emerging serious infection with unusual presentation. Braz J Infect Dis 2013; 17(1):32-40.
  29. Delialioglu N, Aslan G, Ozturk C, Ozturhan H, Şen S, Emekdas G. Detection of Entamoeba histolytica antigen in stool samples in Mersin, Turkey. J Parasitol 2008; 94(2):530-2.

Corresponding Author

Mona Mohamed Tolba