Palestinian Medical and Pharmaceutical Journal (Pal. Med. Pharm. J.)

Article info

Keywords

• Palestine
• E. dispar
• E. histolytica
• Amoebiasis
• Immunoassay

Abstract

Amoebiasis is still of serious concern for public health in developing countries. The main issue in diagnosing amoebiasis infection through stool samples is the inability to differentiate the morphologically indistinguishable Entamoeba histolytica from the nonpathogenic Amoe-ba. This study aimed at detecting Entamoeba species (E. histolytica / dispar) among the mi-croscopically diagnosed amoebiasis infections in the Nablus district using nonconventional immunoassay methods. The study utilized 101 Amoeba-positive stool samples based on the microscope examination. The stool specimens were collected from patients who sought med-ical investigation and diagnosis regardless of age or gender. The consented patients answered questionnaires. The immunoassay method detected E. histolytica / E. dispar in 36.2% of stool specimens out of the tested samples. There was a variation in the prevalence of amoebiasis among the different age groups. Noteworthy, infants positive, 9.9 % and 20.6 % microscopi-cally and using the immunoassay, respectively. In conclusion, this study stressed the urgent need to revise the conventional technique used to diagnose amoebiasis for its serious impact on health. The immunoassay kits could be a good and fast screening technique.

معلومات المقال

الكلمات الإفتتاحية

• Palestine
• E. dispar
• E. histolytica
• Amoebiasis
• Immunoassay

الملخص

Amoebiasis is still of serious concern for public health in developing countries. The main issue in diagnosing amoebiasis infection through stool samples is the inability to differentiate the morphologically indistinguishable Entamoeba histolytica from the nonpathogenic Amoe-ba. This study aimed at detecting Entamoeba species (E. histolytica / dispar) among the mi-croscopically diagnosed amoebiasis infections in the Nablus district using nonconventional immunoassay methods. The study utilized 101 Amoeba-positive stool samples based on the microscope examination. The stool specimens were collected from patients who sought med-ical investigation and diagnosis regardless of age or gender. The consented patients answered questionnaires. The immunoassay method detected E. histolytica / E. dispar in 36.2% of stool specimens out of the tested samples. There was a variation in the prevalence of amoebiasis among the different age groups. Noteworthy, infants positive, 9.9 % and 20.6 % microscopi-cally and using the immunoassay, respectively. In conclusion, this study stressed the urgent need to revise the conventional technique used to diagnose amoebiasis for its serious impact on health. The immunoassay kits could be a good and fast screening technique.