Información de la obra

Amebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is an endemic disease in tropical countries inhabited by populations with high rates of poverty and a low socioeconomic level that live in poor sanitary conditions. These factors determine the prevalence of amebiasis in different regions. In a meeting of experts from the WHO (1997), Brumpt’s hypothesis (1925) was reconsidered for the identification of Entamoeba histolytica. In this meeting, it was concluded that there is a complex of two species, Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar, that are morphologically identical but that can be differentiated through other techniques. Therefore, it was recommended, in the results of light microscope examinations, that the presence of cysts like the E. histolytica/E. dispar complex and tropholozoites with red blood cells in the cytoplasm should be reported. In a symptomatic patient, these elements indicate the presence of the pathogenic species and that pharmacological treatment is required. This parasitosis was considered the third cause of death after malaria and schistosomiasis. However, with molecular tests for differentiating the E. histolytica/E. dispar/E. moshkovskii complex, the prevalence has diminished, because only symptomatic patients tend to be related to the pathogenic ameba. This implies that the real prevalence in developing countries is not accurately known at present. Nevertheless, the different professionals of the health team are only vaguely aware of these advances. Therefore, clinicians continue to prescribe nitroimidazole drugs to patients that do not have a confirmed diagnosis. The reader will find clarification in this book to this respect that they can bring to their daily practice for the benefit of patients and of the health care system. The clinical, epidemiological, diagnostic, and therapeutic approach to amebiasis in this book shows the panorama of this parasitosis to all professionals in the health sciences, and to physicians and bacteriologists in particular. This book is also useful for instructors in the health sciences for the academic training of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Finally, our collective clinical and research experience, spanning several decades, is compiled in the illustrative clinical cases that are meant for learning based on problem questions. In this way, we offer the reader strategies for their daily professional practice and the competency to solve diverse problems related to this parasite.