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Amoebiasis
Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba ''Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colonic ulcerations, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or bloody diarrhea. Complications can include inflammation and ulceration of the colon with tissue death or perforation, which may result in peritonitis. Anemia may develop due to prolonged gastric bleeding. Cysts of ''Entamoeba'' can survive for up to a month in soil or for up to 45 minutes under fingernails. Invasion of the intestinal lining results in bloody diarrhea. If the parasite reaches the bloodstream it can spread through the body, most frequently ending up in the liver where it can cause amoebic liver abscesses. Liver abscesses can occur without previous diarrhea. Diagnosis is typically made by stool examination using microscopy, but it can be difficult to distinguish ''E. hystolitica'' fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entamoeba Histolytica
''Entamoeba histolytica'' is an anaerobic parasitic amoebozoan, part of the genus '' Entamoeba''. Predominantly infecting humans and other primates causing amoebiasis, ''E. histolytica'' is estimated to infect about 35-50 million people worldwide. ''E. histolytica'' infection is estimated to kill more than 55,000 people each year. Previously, it was thought that 10% of the world population was infected, but these figures predate the recognition that at least 90% of these infections were due to a second species, ''E. dispar''. Mammals such as dogs and cats can become infected transiently, but are not thought to contribute significantly to transmission. The word ''histolysis'' literally means disintegration and dissolution of organic tissues. Transmission The active ( trophozoite) stage exists only in the host and in fresh loose feces; cysts survive outside the host in water, in soils, and on foods, especially under moist conditions on the latter. The infection can occur whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metronidazole
Metronidazole, sold under the brand name Flagyl among others, is an antibiotic and antiprotozoal medication. It is used either alone or with other antibiotics to treat pelvic inflammatory disease, endocarditis, and bacterial vaginosis. It is effective for dracunculiasis, giardiasis, trichomoniasis, and amebiasis. It is an option for a first episode of mild-to-moderate ''Clostridium difficile'' colitis if vancomycin or fidaxomicin is unavailable. Metronidazole is available by mouth, as a cream, and by injection into a vein. Common side effects include nausea, a metallic taste, loss of appetite, and headaches. Occasionally seizures or allergies to the medication may occur. Some state that metronidazole should not be used in early pregnancy, while others state doses for trichomoniasis are safe. Metronidazole is generally considered compatible with breastfeeding. Metronidazole began to be commercially used in 1960 in France. It is on the World Health Organization's List o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entamoeba
''Entamoeba'' is a genus of Amoebozoa found as internal parasites or commensals of animals. In 1875, Fedor Lösch described the first proven case of amoebic dysentery in St. Petersburg, Russia. He referred to the amoeba he observed microscopically as ''Amoeba coli''; however, it is not clear whether he was using this as a descriptive term or intended it as a formal taxonomic name. The genus ''Entamoeba'' was defined by Casagrandi and Barbagallo for the species '' Entamoeba coli'', which is known to be a commensal organism. Lösch's organism was renamed '' Entamoeba histolytica'' by Fritz Schaudinn in 1903; he later died, in 1906, from a self-inflicted infection when studying this amoeba. For a time during the first half of the 20th century the entire genus ''Entamoeba'' was transferred to ''Endamoeba'', a genus of amoebas infecting invertebrates about which little is known. This move was reversed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in the late 1950s, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloody Diarrhea
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehydration. The cause of dysentery is usually the bacteria from genus ''Shigella'', in which case it is known as shigellosis, or the amoeba ''Entamoeba histolytica''; then it is called amoebiasis. Other causes may include certain chemicals, other bacteria, other protozoa, or parasitic worms. It may spread between people. Risk factors include contamination of food and water with feces due to poor sanitation. The underlying mechanism involves inflammation of the intestine, especially of the colon. Efforts to prevent dysentery include hand washing and food safety measures while traveling in areas of high risk. While the condition generally resolves on its own within a week, drinking sufficient fluids such as oral rehydration so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dehydroemetine
Dehydroemetine is a synthetically produced antiprotozoal agent similar to emetine in its anti-amoebic properties and structure (they differ only in a double bond next to the ethyl substituent), but it produces fewer side effects. In the United States, it is manufactured by Roche. Mechanism Its exact mechanism is not known, but ''in vitro'' it inhibits translocation. Uses It was at one-time, but is no longer distributed by the Center for Disease Control on a compassionate use basis as an investigational drug for the treatment of metronidazole-resistant amoebiasis. Amoebic infections Some examples of the use of dehydroemetine in the treatment of amoebic infections include: # In 1993, the successful treatment of cutaneous amebiasis in a 7-year-old girl with dehydroemetine and metronidazole in Mexico. # A double-blind study of oral dehydroemetine in the treatment of amoebiasis performed at St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic Medical College, Seoul, Republic of Korea in 1973-1974 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitazoxanide
Nitazoxanide, sold under the brand name Alinia among others, is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic and broad-spectrum antiviral medication that is used in medicine for the treatment of various helminthic, protozoal, and viral infections. It is indicated for the treatment of infection by ''Cryptosporidium parvum'' and ''Giardia lamblia'' in immunocompetent individuals and has been repurposed for the treatment of influenza. Nitazoxanide has also been shown to have ''in vitro'' antiparasitic activity and clinical treatment efficacy for infections caused by other protozoa and helminths; evidence suggested that it possesses efficacy in treating a number of viral infections as well. Chemically, nitazoxanide is the prototype member of the thiazolides, a class of drugs which are synthetic nitrothiazolyl-salicylamide derivatives with antiparasitic and antiviral activity. Tizoxanide, an active metabolite of nitazoxanide in humans, is also an antiparasitic drug of the thiazolide class. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloody Diarrhea
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehydration. The cause of dysentery is usually the bacteria from genus ''Shigella'', in which case it is known as shigellosis, or the amoeba ''Entamoeba histolytica''; then it is called amoebiasis. Other causes may include certain chemicals, other bacteria, other protozoa, or parasitic worms. It may spread between people. Risk factors include contamination of food and water with feces due to poor sanitation. The underlying mechanism involves inflammation of the intestine, especially of the colon. Efforts to prevent dysentery include hand washing and food safety measures while traveling in areas of high risk. While the condition generally resolves on its own within a week, drinking sufficient fluids such as oral rehydration so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasitic
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes. There are six major parasitic strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropredation. One major axis of classification concerns invasiveness: an endoparasite lives inside the host's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amoeba
An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopods. Amoebae do not form a single taxonomic group; instead, they are found in every major lineage of eukaryotic organisms. Amoeboid cells occur not only among the protozoa, but also in fungi, algae, and animals. Microbiologists often use the terms "amoeboid" and "amoeba" interchangeably for any organism that exhibits amoeboid movement. In older classification systems, most amoebae were placed in the class or subphylum Sarcodina, a grouping of single-celled organisms that possess pseudopods or move by protoplasmic flow. However, molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Sarcodina is not a monophyletic group whose members share common descent. Consequently, amoeboid organisms are no longer classified together in one group.Jan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tinidazole
Tinidazole is a drug used against protozoan infections. It is widely known throughout Europe and the developing world as a treatment for a variety of anaerobic amoebic and bacterial infections. It was developed in 1972 and is a prominent member of the nitroimidazole antibiotic class. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Tinidazole is marketed by Mission Pharmacal under the brand name Tindamax, by Pfizer under the names Fasigyn and Simplotan, and in some Asian countries as Sporinex. Uses Tinidazole may be a therapeutic alternative in the setting of metronidazole intolerance. Tinidazole is used to treat ''Helicobacter pylori'', Amoebic dysentery, ''Giardia'' and ''Trichomonas vaginalis''. Side effects Drinking alcohol while taking tinidazole causes an unpleasant disulfiram Disulfiram is a medication used to support the treatment of chronic alcoholism by producing an acute sensitivity to ethanol (drinking alcohol). Disulfiram works by inhibi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diiodohydroxyquinoline
The quinoline derivative diiodohydroxyquinoline (INN), or iodoquinol ( USAN), can be used in the treatment of amoebiasis. It is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and is used as a luminal amebicide. It acts by chelation of ferrous ions essential for metabolism. It was discovered by Adco Co. and introduced as ''diiodohydroxyquinoline''. Susceptibility of '' Dientamoeba fragilis'' has been measured. Iodoquinol is an amebicide used against ''Entamoeba histolytica'', and it is active against both cyst and trophozoites that are localized in the lumen of the intestine. It is considered the drug of choice for treating asymptomatic or moderate forms of amebiasis. The full mechanism of action is unknown. Iodoquinol is used for diseases caused by moderate intestinal amebiasis. Diodoquin enhances zinc absorption in the zinc deficiency disorder Acrodermatitis enteropathica, probably because Diodoquin act as a zinc ionophore. See also * Ionophore In chemistry, an ionoph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lethargy
Lethargy is a state of tiredness, sleepiness, weariness, fatigue, sluggishness or lack of energy. It can be accompanied by depression, decreased motivation, or apathy. Lethargy can be a normal response to inadequate sleep, overexertion, overworking, stress, lack of exercise, improper nutrition, boredom, or a symptom of an underlying illness or a disorder. It may also be a side-effect of medication or caused by an interaction between medications or medication(s) and alcohol. It may also be an altered level of consciousness. When part of a normal response, lethargy often resolves with rest, adequate sleep, decreased stress, physical exercise, and good nutrition. Lethargy's symptoms however can last days or even months, so it can be a sign of a recent underlying illness or infection if it doesn't resolve normally. See also * Clinical depression * Encephalitis lethargica * Sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
