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The pathogenicity of four strains of endamoeba histolytica from Chicago

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The American Journal of Digestive Diseases

Summary and Conclusions

1. Four strains ofEndamoeba histolytica received from the Department of Health of the City of Chicago shortly after the 1933 epidemic of amoebic dysentery were studied in kittens to determine their pathogenic activity.

2. Although two of the strains were from symptomless “carriers,” all four of them gave a very high “pathogenic index” in kittens, distinctly higher than strains obtained from an endemic area of amoebic dysentery in Tennessee.

3. The strains were retested one year after the first experiments and each gave approximately the same “pathogenic index” as in the previous experiment.

4. It is possible that highly pathogenic strains ofE. histolytica became disseminated throughout the city during the epidemic and were responsible for some cases of acute amoebic dysentery and many more symptomless infections.

5. The unfiltered but chlorinated public water supply of the city may have been one means of dissemination of the parasite.

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References

  1. Meleney, H. E. and Frye, W. W.: Studies ofEndamoeba histolytica in Tennessee: V. A comparison of five strains ofE. histolytica with reference to their pathogenicity for kittens.Amer. Jour. Hyg., XVII, 637–655, May, 1933.

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  2. Meleney, H. E. and Frye, W. W.: The pathogenicity ofEndamoeba histolytica.Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. and Hyg., XXIX, 369–379, Jan., 1936.

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  5. Spector, B. K., Baylis, J. R., and Gullins, O.: Effectiveness of filtration in removing from water, and of chlorine in killing, the causative organism of amoebic dysentery.U. S. Pub. Health Rep., XLIX, 786–800, July 6, 1934.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nashville, Tennessee

    Henry E. Meleney M.D. & William W. Frye Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Henry E. Meleney M.D.
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  2. William W. Frye Ph.D.
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Additional information

From the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. Assisted by a grant from the Division of Medical Sciences of the Rockefeller Foundation.

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Meleney, H.E., Frye, W.W. The pathogenicity of four strains of endamoeba histolytica from Chicago. American Journal of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition 4, 37–40 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000417

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000417

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