Prevalence and pathogenicity of Entamoeba histolytica in three different regions of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil

Abstract

Parasitological examinations were carried out on 663 individuals of three different cities of Pernambuco State, Northeastern Brazil: Recife, Palmares and Bodocó. The population from a drought area of Pernambuco State, Bodocó, was investigated for amoebiasis and compared with Recife, metropolitan city (about 1.3 million of inhabitants) and another inland community, Palmares, located inside of the sugar-cane plantation region of the State. No evidence of invasive strains of E. histolytica were found in these inhabitants, provided that the isolated zymodemes I, III, IV, VIII, IX, X, XVII and XVIII are recognized as nonpathogenic strains of E. histolytica. Furthermore, the prevalence of intestinal helminths and other protozoan infections showed that these individuals are infected by other agents responsible for diarrhoeal diseases.

Identification of Entamoeba histolytica and E. dispar infection in Maceió, Alagoas State, northeast Brazil

“…In Brazil, there are only few locations where no cases of amoebiasis been found, such as Pernambuco and Bahia states [8][9][10][11].…”

“…In Belém and Manaus municipalities, both in the Amazon region, the prevalence of E. histolytica infections recorded were 29% and 6.8%, respectively [5][6][7]. In the northeast region, the prevalence for amoebiasis in Fortaleza (Ceará State) is 14.9% [3], whereas in Pernambuco and Bahia States, no case of infection due to E. histolytica has been reported in the literature [8][9][10][11].…”

Ocorrência de Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar em pacientes ambulatoriais de Recife, PE

“…Na Região Metropolitana do Recife (18%); em Palmares, Zona Canavieira (31,5%) e em Bodocó, Zona Semi-árida (36,3%) 1 . Entretanto, até o presente, nenhum caso de infecção devido a E. histolytica foi detectado 6 7 .…”

Determinação da infecção por Entamoeba histolytica em residentes da área metropolitana de Belém, Pará, Brasil, utilizando ensaio imunoenzimático (ELISA) para detecção de antígenos

“…No Brasil, Braga et al 27,28 encontraram uma subestimativa da infecção por E. histolytica na cidade de Fortaleza (Ceará). Por outro lado, estudos realizados em Pernambuco demonstram a presença apenas da E. dispar, considerada espécie não patogênica 29,33,34 . Assim, nossos resultados sugerem que amebíase intestinal na região metropolitana de Belém é um importante problema de saúde pública.…”