The Epidemiology of Amoebiasis

Epidemiology of amoebic liver abscess in Mexico: the case of Sonora

“…Even in so-called 'endemic countries', however, there is a considerable lack of knowledge about the epidemiology of Entamoeba infection and the invasive disease that it may cause. In his now-classical review, Elsdon-Dew (1968) reported that Mexico was a major centre of invasive amoebiasis in the Americas, with other global 'hot-spots' in Natal and Southeast Asia. According to more recent epidemiological surveys based on modern clinical and diagnostic tools Jackson et al, 2000;Blessmann et al, 2002), these observations made by Elsdon-Dew almost four decades ago -which were based mainly on the numbers of cases of amoebic liver abscess (ALA) being reported -still appear valid.…”

HLA antigens associated to amoebic abscess of the liver in Mexican mestizos

“…Those who develop amoebic abscess of the liver (AAL)-the most serious invasive form of amoebiasis-represent only a fraction of that (Sepulveda 1982). These striking figures have been explained by either an increase in amoebic virulence (JimCnez-Cardoso & Kumate 1982) or by the existence of predisposing factors in the host, such as immunocompetence (Diamond et al 1978), sex (Alvarez-Aha & De la Loza-Saldivar 1971), nutritional status (Murray, Murray & Murray 1980) and sanitary conditions (Sexton et al 1974, Elsdon-Dew 1968. However, it has not been possible to establish either a clear-cut racial susceptibility (Peters, Gitlin & Libke 1981) or familiar clustering (De Leon 1970) of cases of AAL that would suggest a genetic predisposition in human amoebiasis.…”

New Concepts of Hepatic Amoebiasis

“…Hospital records are, at times, unreliable and subject to criticism. The incidence of liver abscess appears to be very low in the Congo 9 and this may be a false view as autopsies are not commonly performed in that country. A similar conclusion applies to Malaysia.…”