Prevalence and pathogenicity of Entamoeba histolytica in three different regions of Pernambuco, northeast Brazil
Aca, I.da.S.; Kobayashi, S.; Carvalho Júnior, L.B.; Tateno, S.; Takeuchi, T.
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo 36(6): 519-524
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-4665 PMID: 7569626 Document Number: 435942
Parasitological examinations were carried out on 663 individuals of 3 different cities of Pernambuco State, Northeastern Brazil: Recife, Palmares and Bodoco. The population from a drought area of Pernambuco State, Bodoco, was investigated for amoebiasis and compared with Recife, a metropolitan city of about 1.3 million inhabitants, and another inland community, Palmares, located inside of the sugar-cane plantation region of the State. No evidence of invasive strains of Entamoeba 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.