An Outbreak of Acute, Fatal Amebic Meningoencephalitis

Cerva, L; Novák, K; Culbertson, C. G.

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120905

Cited by 53 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Culbertson et al (1959) found that a hartmannellid amoeba was pathogenic to mice on intranasal or intracerebral inoculation, and was pathogenic to cortisone-treated rhesus monkeys on intravenous inoculation, but only when very large doses were used. Culbertson (1961) similarly found that the amoeba was pathogenic on intranasal instillation into cortisone-treated monkeys. cerva ( 1 967a and b) in an important series of studies with Culbertson's strain of Hartinannella castellanii found that when it was inoculated from actively growing cultures it was highly pathogenic, single amoebae being capable of causing death in mice, rats and guinea-pigs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

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Isolation Of Amoebae From The Air

Kingston

Warhurst

1969

Journal of Medical Microbiology

106

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D U R I N G an investigation into the possibility of isolating respiratory syncytial virus from the environment (Kingston, 1969), hartmannellid amoebae were isolated from the air and from the surfaces in cubicles in which infants with acute bronchiolitis were being nursed. In the present study a more extensive investigation was carried out, partly because of the possibility that these amoebae may be associated with disease. METHODS Isolation of' the amoebaeTissue culture method. Standard virus cultivation techniques were used. In outline, the method was to suck air into the liquid contained in a special modification of the slit sampler (Lidwell, 1966) and then to inoculate as much as possible of the liquid on to HeLa cells. The cells were maintained on Gey's solution with 5 per cent. rabbit serum, 0.25 per cent. lactalbumin hydrolysate, and with 100 units each of penicillin and streptomycin and 5 pg Fungizone per ml. The cells were incubated at 33"-37"C, mean c. 35°C. This technique was used because virus isolation was the original object of the work. This approach has the disadvantage of being laborious, of requiring the cell sheet to be washed after an initial short period of incubation to prevent bacteria and fungi breaking through the antibiotic cover, with the risk of losing amoebae, and of requiring the use of a fungistatic agent, that used being Fungizone, which is toxic to some amoebae (personal communication from Dr C. G. Cu 1 bertson).Agar plate method. This method is based on that used by Singh (1952) for cultivation of small free-living amoebae from the soil. Oxoid Ionagar no. 2 was dissolved in glassdistilled water to give 1.5 per cent. water agar, which was poured into 5+ in. (14 cm) diameter petri dishes. When set, the plates were dried in the hot room for about 1 hr. Klebsiella aerogenes (NCTC9667) was inoculated into a 100-ml bottle of Oxoid nutrient broth no. 2, and after overnight incubation at 37°C the bacteria were harvested by centrifugation and resuspended in about 20 ml sterile distilled water. Three millilitres of this suspension was spread on to each water agar plate and allowed to adsorb. The plates were then used for air sampling either by exposing them for 10 min. in a 20 cu. ft (570 litre) per min. slit sampler or by leaving them open to the air for various periods up to 7 hr (" settle plates "). Unless otherwise stated, exposure was by the slit-sampler technique. In some preliminary experiments, not reported here, the klebsiella suspension was killed by heating for 2 hr at 56°C before being spread on to the plates, but this treatment was discontinued as heat-killed bacteria will not support the growth of some amoebae. The plates were incubated at 30"

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Histological studies have incriminated small free-living amoebae as the cause of meningitis and brain abscesses (Fowler and Carter, 1965;Callicott, 1968;Cerva and Novak, 1968). Amoebae were isolated from two fatal cases of meningoencephalitis by Butt (1966) and Dr C .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation Of Amoebae From The Air

Kingston

Warhurst

1969

Journal of Medical Microbiology

106

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“…Among them, N. fowleri is the most virulent species and is transmitted via the nasal mucosa and the olfactory nerve to the brain, resulting in primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which is a rare, but nearly always fatal, disease that typically leads to death within 1-2 weeks from the onset of symptoms (Martinez and Visvesvara 1997). The number of PAM cases has increased in recent years, and cases have been reported in countries on every continent, including Czechoslovakia, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Apley et al 1970;Cerva et al 1968;Lares-Villa et al 1993;Lee et al 2002;Miller et al 1982;Sugita et al 1999). The majority of reported cases of PAM are in the United States with 27 cases reported in the United States between 2000 and 2007; most of those occurred in the southern states and during warm weather (CDC 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survey of Naegleria and its resisting bacteria-Legionella in hot spring water of Taiwan using molecular method

Huang¹,

Hsu²

2010

Parasitol Res

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Naegleria is a free-living amoebae existing in soil and aquatic environments. Within the genus Naegleria, N. fowleri is most recognized as potential human pathogen causing primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). Furthermore, the Naegleria spp. can serve as vehicles for facultative pathogens, such as Legionella. In this study, we identified Naegleria and Legionella based on the PCR amplification with a genus-specific primer pair and investigated the distribution of Naegleria and Legionella at five spring recreation areas in Taiwan. In this study of hot spring and other water sources in Taiwan, five Naegleria spp. were detected in 15 (14.2%) of the water samples. The most frequently detected was N. lovaniensis (n = 6), followed by N. australiensis (n = 5), and then N. clarki (n = 2). N. americana and N. pagei were detected once, respectively. The pathogenic species N. fowleri was not detected; however, N. australiensis considered to be a potential pathogen species in humans was found. Legionella spp., an endosymbiont of Naegleria, was detected in 19 (17.9%) of the water samples in this study. Overall, 5.7% of the water samples contained both Naegleria and Legionella. The Legionella spp. identified were L. pneumophila and L. erythra. Results of this survey confirm the existence of Naegleria and Legionella in Taiwan spring recreation areas. It should be considered a potential threat for health associated with human activities in spring recreation areas of Taiwan.

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“…small warm ponds) pool-associated cases are also published. A cluster of cases happened about 50 years ago in a single indoor pool in Northern Bohemia where 16 young patients died in fulminant PAM caused most probably by N. fowleri [105]. Since than several hundred cases were identified which were mostly associated to natural waters but incidentally thermal pools have also been involved [104].…”

Section: Biofilm Mediated Organismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The risk of contracting infectious diseases in public swimming pools. A review

Barna

Kádár

2012

Annali Dell'Istituto Superiore Di Sanità

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Summary.A review of pathogenic microorganisms presenting risk of infection in pool based artificial recreational water venues is extracted from the available scientific literature. The microorganisms are grouped both according to their way of spread and their survival and growth strategies and their characteristics relevant for the pool and spa based recreation are discussed. In order to put the proposed risks on a solid basis, among others a ten year excerpt of the waterborne disease statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is used throughout the article.Key words: man-made water recreational environment, risk of infection, waterborne disease outbreaks, swimming pool, hot tub.Riassunto (Il rischio di contrarre malattie infettive nelle piscine pubbliche. Una rassegna). Viene presentata una sintesi della letteratura scientifica disponibile sui microorganismi patogeni potenzialmente infettivi, in ambienti acquatici ricreativi artificiali, come le piscine. I microorganismi sono raggruppati sia in base alle loro vie di diffusione che in base alle loro strategie di sopravvivenza e di crescita; successivamente vengono discusse le loro caratteristiche più importanti negli ambienti ricreativi considerati, piscine e terme. Per fornire adeguate e solide basi scientifiche ai tipi di rischi presentati, vengono analizzate, oltre ad altri documenti, le statistiche relative a dieci anni di osservazione di malattie legate all'acqua del Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Parole chiave: ambienti ricreativi acquatici artificiali, rischio di infezione, epidemie di malattie legate all'acqua, piscine, vasche da idromassaggio.

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An Outbreak of Acute, Fatal Amebic Meningoencephalitis

Cited by 53 publications

References 0 publications

Isolation Of Amoebae From The Air

Isolation Of Amoebae From The Air

Survey of Naegleria and its resisting bacteria-Legionella in hot spring water of Taiwan using molecular method

The risk of contracting infectious diseases in public swimming pools. A review

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