Abstract
The present study was carried out to examine whetherEntamoeba histolytica cyst passers suffer from any parasite-related bowel symptoms and to assess the frequency of spontaneous eradication of this infection. The study was carried out in two parts. In part I, stool samples were collected at random from 3536 individuals living in rural communities around Delhi.E. histolytica was isolated by the culture technique in 345 (9.7%) subjects. There was no increase in the prevalence rate of bowel symptoms in the culture-positive compared to the culture-negative subjects. One hundred twenty-four (36%) of the culture-positive subjects agreed to take part in a longitudinal study; the subjects were left untreated and clinical assessment and stool examinations were carried out at three-month intervals. One hundred eighteen (95.2%) subjects had eradicated their parasite spontaneously at the end of one year; none developed any features of invasive amebiasis. Part II of the study was carried out on 625 patients attending our Gastroenterology Clinic. Positive cultures ofE. histolytica were obtained from 99 (15.2%) patients. Again, there was no increase in the prevalence rate of bowel complaints in the culture-positive compared to the culture-negative subjects. Moreover, histological appearances of the rectal biopsy specimens were not significantly different between the two groups. Twenty-eight (28.2%) patients agreed to the longitudinal study and all eradicated the parasite spontaneously within five months; none developed any evidence of invasive amebiasis. It is concluded thatE. histolytica cyst passers do not suffer from any parasite-related bowel complaints. In this setting, there appears little justification in treating cyst passers since most of these subjects eradicate the parasite spontaneously without suffering from any invasive disease.
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Anand, B.S., Tuteja, A.K., Kaur, M. et al. Entamoeba histolytica cyst passers. Digest Dis Sci 38, 1825–1830 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01296105
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01296105