We followed 93 subjects with amebic liver abscess (ALA) and 963 close associate controls at 3-month intervals for 36 months to characterize intestinal and humoral antibody responses to the amebic galactose-inhibitable lectin and to determine whether immunity developed to Entamoeba histolytica or Entamoeba dispar infection following cure of ALA. We found that ALA subjects had a higher prevalence...

Entamoeba histolytica actually comprises two genetically distinct but morphologically indistinguishable species. E. histolytica can cause invasive intestinal and extra intestinal disease, while E. dispar cannot. Identification and differentiation of E. dispar and E. histolytica in stool sample by microscopy is imprecise. Several weeks of culture and isoenzyme analysis are required to differenti...

It is now well established that Entamoeba moshkovskii and Entamoeba dispar are two distinct nonpathogenic species, but microscopically indistinguishable from the pathogenic species E. histolytica, the causative organism of amoebiasis. Traditionally diagnosis of E. histolytica infection has relied upon microscopic examination of cyst or trophozoite stage in fresh or fixed stool specimens which h...