As a rule, the dysenteric amoeba is localized in the gastrointestinal tract. This bacterium is small in size (up to 30 micrometers), with high activity and mobility. Amoeba dysentery is common in all corners of the planet Earth and, depending on the habitat, infection reaches an average of up to 20% among the entire population.

Infection with a dysenteric amoeba may not always be accompanied by pronounced symptoms, since it often leads a moderate vital activity in the gastrointestinal tract, feeding on bacteria and not causing pathological processes.

Under certain factors, the amoeba can change its behavior and begin to actively invade the intestinal walls, causing ulcers and abscesses. Bacteria that have penetrated into tissues begin to feed on red erythrocytes and, if treatment is not started on time, the disease becomes chronic, depletes the human body and leads to death.

amoeba proteus

This bacterium is also called the amoeba or common rhizomes. The microorganism is relatively large - reaches up to 0.5 millimeters in length. This type of amoeba lives in fresh water, as a rule, in closed reservoirs - swamps, rotting ponds and is distributed throughout the world. It reproduces by dividing the mother cell into daughter cells.

intestinal form

Iodameba Bunchli

pygmy amoeba

Amoeba Hartmann

This microorganism is not capable of causing any pathological manifestations in the human body. Outwardly, it resembles a dysentery variety, but it reaches much smaller sizes. At the vegetative stage of development, the maximum length of Hartmann's amoeba reaches 12, and the size of cysts is 10 micrometers.

mouth amoeba

Diantameba

Infection occurs during direct contact of a person with contaminated water, while the pathogenic microorganism penetrates into the nasal sinuses, then into the olfactory nerve and into the brain, spreading to all its parts. The brain-eating amoeba actively multiplies, causing necrosis and hemorrhage in the brain. This disease is almost always fatal.

Types of amoebiasis

Amoebiasis has several forms of development that differ in severity and specific symptoms: asymptomatic and manifest, among which intestinal and extraintestinal forms are distinguished. Intestinal amebiasis is characterized by dysentery and amoebic colitis, and extraintestinal amebiasis is characterized by amebiasis lesions of organs not related to the digestive tract.

Intestinal

This form of amoebiasis is caused mainly by a dysenteric amoeba. In the aggressive stage of development, it is introduced into the intestinal walls, causing the development of ulcers, erosions and suppuration. In an infected person, the urge to defecate becomes more frequent, pains appear in the lower abdomen, an admixture of mucus and blood is found in the feces.

Asymptomatic form

The dysenteric amoeba can live in the lower intestines, without showing itself in any way and without causing pathological processes. After infection, the incubation period for amoebiasis is about 14 days. During this time, the bacterium quietly feeds on intestinal bacteria, without affecting the mucous membranes and walls. At this time, a person, unaware of his infection, becomes a carrier of the infection.

Acute

Amoeba under the influence of certain factors acquires an aggressive form, penetrating into the intestine and damaging its walls. There are pronounced symptoms of infection: defecation becomes more frequent up to 20 times a day, often false and painful, the feces become liquid, with blood impurities. The patient complains of paroxysmal pain in the lower abdomen, feeling unwell and loss of appetite.

Lightning

With immunodeficiency, the incubation period of amoebiasis lasts no more than 2 days, the symptoms are immediately pronounced, since microorganisms multiply at lightning speed. Often there is a fulminant form of amoebiasis after pregnancy, as the mother's body is weakened by childbirth and lactation. This form of the disease often leads to severe complications, so when symptoms appear, you should immediately visit a doctor and begin the necessary treatment.

Clinical picture

Chief Physician of the Moscow City Hospital No. 62. Anatoly Nakhimovich Makhson
Medical practice: more than 40 years.

Unfortunately, in Russia and the CIS countries, pharmacy corporations sell expensive drugs that only relieve symptoms, thereby putting people on one drug or another. That is why in these countries there is such a high percentage of infections and so many people suffer from "non-working" drugs.

Chronic form

If no action is taken in the acute form of amoebiasis, it will last up to 2 months, and then the symptoms will gradually subside on their own. But this does not mean that the disease has completely healed itself - it simply turned into a chronic form and after a while the exacerbation phase will begin again. During the period of remission, a person remains a carrier of cysts and poses a threat to surrounding healthy people.

extraintestinal

If there are signs of amoebiasis, you should immediately consult a doctor and take the necessary tests, and if the results are positive, start treatment immediately.

This class includes unicellular animals, which are characterized by a variable body shape. This is due to the formation of pseudopods, which serve to move and capture food. Many rhizopods have an internal or external skeleton in the form of shells. After death, these skeletons settle to the bottom of water bodies and form silt, gradually turning into chalk.

A typical representative of this class is the common amoeba (Fig. 1).

The structure and reproduction of the amoeba

Amoeba - one of the most simply arranged animals, devoid of a skeleton. Lives in silt at the bottom of ditches and ponds. Externally, the body of the amoeba is a grayish gelatinous lump 200-700 microns in size, which does not have a permanent shape, which consists of cytoplasm and a vesicular nucleus and does not have a shell. In the protoplasm, an outer, more viscous (ectoplasm) and an inner granular, more liquid (endoplasm) layer is distinguished.

On the body of the amoeba, outgrowths that change their shape are constantly formed - false legs (pseudopodia). The cytoplasm gradually overflows into one of these protrusions, the false leg attaches to the substrate at several points, and the amoeba moves. Moving, the amoeba encounters unicellular algae, bacteria, small unicellular, covers them with pseudopods so that they are inside the body, forming a digestive vacuole around the swallowed piece in which intracellular digestion occurs. Undigested residues are thrown out in any part of the body. The method of capturing food with the help of false legs is called phagocytosis. The fluid enters the body of the amoeba through the resulting thin tubular channels, i.e. by pinocytosis. The end products of vital activity (carbon dioxide and other harmful substances and undigested food residues) are excreted with water through a pulsating (contractile) vacuole, which removes excess fluid every 1-5 minutes.

The amoeba does not have a special respiratory organelle. It absorbs the oxygen necessary for life by the entire surface of the body.

Amoebas reproduce only asexually (mitosis). Under unfavorable conditions (for example, when a reservoir dries up), amoeba retract pseudopodia, become covered with a strong double membrane and form cysts (encysted).

When exposed to external stimuli (light, change in the chemical composition of the environment), the amoeba responds with a motor reaction (taxis), which, depending on the direction of movement, can be positive or negative.

Other members of the class

Many species of Sarcodidae live in marine and fresh waters. Some sarcodes on the surface of the body have a skeleton in the form of a shell (shell rhizomes, foraminifers). The shells of such sarcodes are riddled with pores from which pseudopodia protrude. In shell rhizomes, reproduction is observed by multiple division - schizogony. Sea rhizomes (foraminifera) are characterized by alternation of asexual and sexual generations.

The skeletalized Sarcodidae are among the oldest inhabitants of the Earth. Chalk and limestone were formed from their skeletons. Each geological period is characterized by its own foraminifera, and they often determine the age of geological layers. The skeletons of certain types of shell rhizomes accompany the deposition of oil, which is taken into account in geological surveys.

dysenteric amoeba(Entamoeba histolytica) is the causative agent of amoebic dysentery (amebiasis). Discovered by F. A. Lesh in 1875

Localization. The human intestine.
. Common, but more common in countries with hot climates.

Morphological features and life cycle. In the human intestine, the following forms occur in the life cycle:

• cysts - 1, 2, 5-10 (Fig. 2).
• small vegetative form living in the intestinal lumen (forma minuta) - 3, 4;
• large vegetative form that lives in the lumen of the intestines (forma magna) - 13-14
• tissue, pathogenic, large vegetative form (forma magna) - 12;

A characteristic feature of the cysts of the dysenteric amoeba is the presence of 4 nuclei in them (a distinctive species feature), the size of the cysts is from 8 to 18 microns.

The dysenteric amoeba usually enters the human intestine in the form of cysts. Here, the shell of the swallowed cyst dissolves and a four-core amoeba comes out of it, which quickly divides into 4 single-core small (7-15 microns in diameter) vegetative forms (f. minuta). This is the main form of existence of E. histolytica.

The small vegetative form lives in the lumen of the large intestine, feeds mainly on bacteria, multiplies and does not cause disease. If the conditions are not favorable for the transition to the tissue form, then the amoeba, getting into the lower intestines, encysts (turns into a cyst) with the formation of a 4-nuclear cyst and is excreted into the external environment with feces.

If the conditions favor the transition to the tissue form (E. histolytica forma magna), the amoeba increases in size to an average of 23 microns, sometimes reaching 30 or even 50 microns, and acquires the ability to secrete hyaluronidase, proteolytic enzymes that dissolve tissue proteins and penetrate into the walls intestines, where it intensively multiplies and causes damage to the mucosa with the formation of ulcers. In this case, the walls of blood vessels are destroyed and bleeding occurs in the intestinal cavity.

When amoebic lesions of the intestine appear, small vegetative forms located in the intestinal lumen begin to turn into a large vegetative form. The latter is characterized by large sizes (30-40 microns) and the structure of the nucleus: the chromatin of the nucleus forms radial structures, a large lump of chromatin, the karyosome, is located strictly in the center, forma magna begins to feed on erythrocytes, i.e., becomes an erythrophage. Blunt broad pseudopodia and jerky locomotion are characteristic.

Amoebas that reproduce in the tissues of the intestinal wall - a tissue form - getting into the intestinal lumen, in structure and size become similar to a large vegetative form, but are not able to swallow erythrocytes.

When treating or increasing the protective reaction of the body, a large vegetative form (E. histolytica forma magna) again turns into a small one (E. histolytica forma minuta), which begins to encyst. Subsequently, either recovery occurs, or the disease becomes chronic.

The conditions necessary for the transformation of some forms of the dysenteric amoeba into others have been studied by the Soviet protistologist V. Gnezdilov. It turned out that various unfavorable factors - hypothermia, overheating, malnutrition, overwork, etc. - contribute to the transition of forma minuta to forma magna. A necessary condition is also the presence of certain types of intestinal bacteria. Sometimes an infected person sheds cysts for many years without showing signs of illness. These people are called cyst carriers. They are a great danger, as they serve as a source of infection for others. During the day, one cyst carrier releases up to 600 million cysts. Cystocarriers are subject to identification and mandatory treatment.

The only one source of disease amoebiasis - man. Faecal cysts contaminate soil and water. Since feces are often used as fertilizer, cysts end up in the garden and garden, where they pollute vegetables and fruits. Cysts are resistant to the external environment. They enter the intestines with unwashed vegetables and fruits, through unboiled water, dirty hands. Flies, cockroaches, which contaminate food, serve as mechanical carriers.

Pathogenic action. With the introduction of an amoeba into the intestinal wall, a serious disease develops, the main symptoms of which are: bleeding ulcers in the intestines, frequent and loose stools (up to 10-20 times a day) mixed with blood and mucus. Sometimes, through the blood vessels, a dysenteric amoeba - an erythrophage can be carried into the liver and other organs, causing the formation of abscesses there (focal suppuration). In the absence of treatment, mortality reaches 40%.

Laboratory diagnostics. Microscopy: smears of feces. In the acute period, the smear contains large vegetative forms containing erythrocytes; cysts are usually absent because f. magna is unable to encyst. In the chronic form or cystic carriage, quadrinuclear cysts are found in the feces.

Prevention: personal - washing vegetables and fruits with boiled water, drinking only boiled water, washing hands before eating, after going to the toilet, etc .; public - the fight against contamination of soil and water with feces, the destruction of flies, sanitary and educational work, examination for cystic carriage of persons working in public catering enterprises, treatment of patients.

Non-pathogenic amoebae include intestinal and oral amoebae.

Intestinal amoeba (Entamoeba coli).

Localization. The upper part of the large intestine lives only in the intestinal lumen.

Geographic distribution. It is found in approximately 40-50% of the population of various regions of the globe.

. The vegetative form has a size of 20-40 microns, but sometimes larger forms are also found. There is no sharp boundary between ecto- and endoplasm. It has a characteristic way of locomotion - it simultaneously releases pseudopodia from different sides and, as it were, "marks time". The nucleus contains large clumps of chromatin, the nucleolus lies eccentrically, and there is no radial structure. It does not secrete a proteolytic enzyme, does not penetrate the intestinal wall, feeds on bacteria, fungi, plant and animal food residues. The endoplasm contains many vacuoles. Erythrocytes are not swallowed, even if they are contained in the intestines in large quantities (in patients with bacterial dysentery). In the lower part of the digestive tract, it forms eight- and two-core cysts.

Mouth amoeba (Entamoeba gingivalis).

Localization. Oral cavity, plaque in healthy people and those with diseases of the oral cavity, carious cavities of the teeth.

Geographic distribution. Everywhere.

Morphophysiological characteristics. The vegetative form has sizes from 10 to 30 microns, strongly vacuolized cytoplasm. The type of movement and the structure of the nucleus resemble a dysenteric amoeba. Erythrocytes do not swallow, feed on bacteria, fungi. In addition, nuclei of leukocytes or the so-called salivary bodies are found in the vacuoles, which, after staining, can resemble erythrocytes. It is believed that the cyst does not form. Pathogenic action is currently denied. It is found in the dental plaque of healthy people in 60-70%. It is more common in people with diseases of the teeth and oral cavity.

outer membrane, and one or more nuclei. The light and dense outer layer is called ectoplasm, and the inner one is called endoplasm. In the endoplasm of the amoeba there are cellular organelles: contractile and digestive vacuoles, mitochondria, ribosomes, elements of the Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, supporting and contractile fibers.

Respiration and excretion

Cellular respiration of the amoeba occurs with the participation of oxygen, when it becomes less than in the external environment, new molecules enter the cell. Accumulated as a result of vital activity, harmful substances and carbon dioxide are removed to the outside. Fluid enters the body of the amoeba through thin tubular channels, this process is called. Contractile vacuoles pump out excess water. Gradually filling up, they are sharply reduced and pushed out about once every 5-10 minutes. Moreover, vacuoles can form in any part of the body. The digestive vacuole approaches the cell membrane and opens outward, as a result of which undigested residues are released into the external environment.

Food

The amoeba feeds on unicellular algae, bacteria and smaller unicellular organisms, bumping into them, it flows around them and includes them in the cytoplasm, forming a digestive vacuole. It receives enzymes that break down proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, this is how intracellular digestion occurs. After digestion, food enters the cytoplasm.

reproduction

Amoebas reproduce asexually by fission. This process is no different from cell division, which occurs during the growth of a multicellular organism. The only difference is that the daughter cells become independent organisms.

First, the nucleus is doubled so that each daughter cell has its own copy of the hereditary information. The core is first stretched, then lengthened and pulled in the middle. Forming a transverse groove, it is divided into two halves, which form two nuclei. They diverge in different directions, and the body of the amoeba is divided into two parts by a constriction, forming two new unicellular organisms. One nucleus enters each of them, and the formation of the missing organelles also occurs. The division can be repeated several times in one day.

Cyst formation

Unicellular organisms are sensitive to changes in the external environment; under adverse conditions, a large amount of water is released from the cytoplasm on the surface of the body of the amoeba. The secreting water and substances of the cytoplasm form a dense membrane. This process can occur in the cold season, when the reservoir dries up, or in other conditions unfavorable for the amoeba. The organism passes into a resting state, forming a cyst in which all vital processes are suspended. Cysts can be carried by the wind, which contributes to the settlement of amoebae. When favorable conditions occur, the amoeba leaves the cyst shell and becomes active.

Sources:

• Biotutorials, Amoeba vulgaris

Reproduction is a natural property of living beings. It is sexual and asexual - i.e. with the participation of only one individual, in the absence of an individual of the opposite sex. The latter is found in certain types of plants and fungi, as well as in the simplest organisms.

Instruction

Asexual reproduction occurs without the exchange of genetic information between two individuals of different sexes. It is characteristic of the simplest unicellular organisms - amoebas, ciliates-shoes. They have no variability; for thousands of years, the daughter individuals completely copy the parent ones.

One of the ways of asexual reproduction is division, when two daughters (for example, amoeba) are formed from one individual. In this case, the nucleus of the organism begins to divide first, and then the cytoplasm splits in two. This method is also common among bacteria.

A starfish reproduces in a fragmented way: the "mother" organism is divided into parts, and each of them becomes a full-fledged new starfish.

Another way is reproduction by spores. Here we are talking about multicellular organisms - fungi and plants. With asexual reproduction, only one plant is involved in this process. It forms spores or separates viable parts of the vegetative body, and from them daughter individuals are formed under favorable circumstances.

Vegetative propagation in plants occurs with the help of vegetative organs - leaves, roots and. Violet, for example, propagates by leaves, and raspberries by roots. This phenomenon is especially common among wild plants. Vegetative reproduction is natural and artificial when it is carried out by a person.

Often, under natural conditions, certain types of plants reproduce by the same organs: tulips, lilies, daffodils, onions and garlic - bulbs; dahlias, Jerusalem artichoke, potatoes - tubers; - creeping shoots (whiskers); Ivan tea, horsetail, yarrow - rhizomes.

The advantage of artificial vegetative propagation is that it allows you to maintain genetic purity in breeding, because. the daughter plant takes on all the qualities of the parent. And the minus is in the decrease in resistance to diseases and pests, which is observed after several years of asexual reproduction.

In agriculture and horticulture, methods of artificial vegetative propagation are used by dividing bushes, layering, cuttings and grafting.

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One of the products that can rid the mouth of is parsley. This plant also perfectly neutralizes the smell of tobacco. Less strong in their properties are cardamom, coriander, wormwood, rosemary and eucalyptus. For a greater effect, the herb is needed as long as possible or for the gums.

To create an environment in the oral cavity that is unfavorable for the reproduction of bacteria, eat more berries, watermelons, citrus fruits and other fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C. Regular consumption of such foods again has a beneficial effect. Do not replace natural vitamin C with an artificial supplement, it can cause indigestion.

Do not forget about green tea, which successfully washes away bacteria from the surface of the gums and teeth. This drink is rich in flavonoids, which not only rid the mouth of bad breath, but also whiten teeth and improve metabolism.

You should pay attention to dairy products. Like yogurt, they reduce hydrogen sulfide levels in the mouth and freshen breath. Also, the substances contained in fermented milk products do not allow fermentation bacteria to multiply and the oral cavity unsuitable for their life.

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The body of the amoeba proteus (Fig. 16) is covered with a plasma membrane. All actions of the amoeba are controlled by the nucleus. The cytoplasm is in constant motion. If its microflows rush to one point on the surface of the amoeba, a protrusion appears there. It increases in size, becomes an outgrowth of the body. This is a pseudopod that attaches itself to silt particles. All the contents of the amoeba gradually flow into it. This is how the amoeba moves from place to place.

Amoeba proteus is an omnivore. Its food is bacteria, unicellular plants and animals, as well as decaying organic particles. Moving, the amoeba encounters food and flows around it from all sides, and it ends up in the cytoplasm (Fig. 16). A digestive vacuole is formed around food, where digestive secrets enter, digesting food. This way of capturing food is called cellular ingestion.

The amoeba can also feed on liquid food, using another method - cellular drinking. It happens like this. Outside, a thin tube is pushed into the cytoplasm, into which liquid food is sucked. A digestive vacuole is formed around it.

Rice. 16. The structure and nutrition of the amoeba

Selection

As in Bodo, the vacuole with undigested food remnants moves to the surface of the body of the amoeba and its contents are thrown out. The release of harmful substances of vital activity and excess water occurs with the help of a contractile (pulsating) vacuole.

Breath

Respiration in an amoeba is carried out in the same way as in a bodo ( cm.Bodo - flagellate animal).

Each type of protozoan animal has its own structure, its own form, including very complex and bizarre ones. It is not formed by chance, and persists for a very long time: at the bottom of the ocean, in sediments formed tens of millions of years ago, exactly the same foraminifera shells are found.

This is possible because in each species the construction of the organism is carried out according to a certain plan, a certain program. This program is written in a special code on long molecules stored in the cell nucleus, just like computer programs are written on a magnetic hard disk. Before reproduction, a copy is written off from the program and passed on to offspring. These programs can be called genetically fixed, or innate. material from the site

The cell nucleus contains not only programs how to build it, but also how to act. They determine the actions of the animal - its behavior. Just as some of the simplest body shape programs lead to a simple form, while others to a complex one, so behavioral programs can be both simple and complex. The diversity of animals in terms of the complexity of the behavioral program is no less than the diversity of their forms.

The amoeba also responds to many signals by launching its behavior programs. Thus, she recognizes different types of microscopic organisms that serve her food; moves away from bright light; determines the concentration of substances in the environment; away from constant mechanical irritation.

Origin of Sarcode

In the limits of the flagellates, there is a shaky border (a distinctive feature) between the two kingdoms - plants and animals. At first glance, it seems that there is a sharp difference between animal flagellates and sarcodes: the former move with the help of flagella, the latter with the use of prolegs. But it turns out that Sarcodidae, previously considered the oldest protozoa, are now considered as evolutionary descendants of animal flagellates. The fact is that flagella appear in many Sarcodidae during reproduction, as, for example, in the germ cells of radiolarians and foraminifers. Therefore, flagella were once also found in Sarcodidae. Moreover, animal flagellates (for example, the flagellated amoeba) are known, taking the form of an amoeba to capture food with the help of prolegs. All this allows us to consider that the Sarcodidae originated from the ancient flagellates and lost their flagella during further evolution.

Questions about this item:

Among the simplest organisms, the amoeba is considered the most primitive. Bacteria are microscopic in size and are single-celled creatures.

Amoeba is the simplest single-celled creature

Amoeba - what is it?

Amoeba (rhizome)- the lowest rank of living beings. What is it - a bacterium or an animal? The microorganism belongs to the simplest unicellular animals, has tiny dimensions (from 0.2 to 0.5 mm), the shape of the body changes all the time depending on external conditions. Single-celled creatures, like more complex animals, use oxygen for breathing, and release carbon dioxide into the external environment.

Kinds

Under adverse conditions (temperature fluctuations, ponds drying up, air currents), it goes into sleep mode, transforming into a cyst

Amoebas enter the human or animal body in the form of a cyst, which is protected by a strong two-layer membrane. Infection occurs through food (poorly washed fruits and vegetables), contaminated water, dirty hands.

Structure

The amoeba does not have a skeleton, a mouth, lungs and gills.

Its structure is made up of organelles:

• big core;
• cytoplasm, clearly divided into two zones - ectoplasm and endoplasm;
• pseudopodia (false legs with which the cell moves);
• digestive vacuole;
• contractile vacuole (removes excess water and food from the body of the amoeba).

What an amoeba looks like and what it consists of is shown in the photo.

Amoeba has a simple structure

Food

The rhizopod feeds on pseudopodia. The process of taking in solid food is called phagocytosis. The capture of food is part of the main functions of the false legs: they wrap around edible particles, which helps the latter to get into the nutrient vacuole, where the membrane envelops them. Gradually, digestion occurs, the excess of which exits the contracting vacuole during the movement of the amoeba.

The process of capturing food by an amoeba

reproduction

Amoeba can only reproduce asexually. Having reached maturity, the cell begins to divide, which results in 2 daughter organisms.

How they reproduce:

• change in the core (first it stretches, then it lengthens, as a result of which it is pulled in the middle);
• division of the nucleus into two halves (formation of two independent nuclei);
• the division of the amoeba itself into two new cells, each of which has its own nucleus.

Amoeba reproduce asexually

During the appearance of a daughter microorganism, the formation of organelles missing for a new cell occurs. In 24 hours, an amoeba can go through the process of binary fission several times.

Life cycle

The amoeba has a simple cycle of existence. In a favorable environment, cells develop, grow and divide asexually. With the deterioration of the conditions of existence, the amoeba "freeze", thereby forming cysts. Once in the body of a person, animal, in water bodies or moist soil, microorganisms come to life, are released from the protective shell and begin to actively multiply.

When the environmental conditions deteriorate, the amoeba becomes covered with a protective shell (cyst)

Amoebiasis symptoms

Symptoms of amoebiasis largely depend on the type of disease:

1. Intestinal amoebiasis (dysentery amoebic colitis, amoebic dysentery). Characteristic symptoms: copious diarrhea streaked with blood, mucus and pus. As the disease develops, negative manifestations increase in the form of fever, chills, vomiting, and loss of appetite. During bowel movements, cramping pains in the lower abdomen are possible, which are less pronounced in a calm state.
2. Extraintestinal type of disease - occurs as a complication of intestinal amoebiasis. Most often affects the liver (abscess or amoebic hepatitis). Symptoms: an increase in the affected organ, pain in the right hypochondrium, the appearance of jaundice, high temperature (up to 40 degrees).

When amoebas damage the liver, pain appears in the right hypochondrium

Amebiasis has a mild course (fever, diarrhea, yellowness on the skin) and manifests itself already in the later stages of the disease in the form of a breakthrough of purulent formations (peritonitis). This threatens to damage the lungs, brain, genitourinary system.

Diagnostics

The basis for the diagnosis of amoebiasis is 2 main methods:

• bacteriological analysis of biological material (cysts are looked for in feces);
• endoscopic examination of the rectum (detection of the degree of damage to the intestinal mucosa).

Only after confirming the diagnosis, the specialist prescribes the necessary treatment, taking into account all the features and severity of the disease.

An endoscopic examination is used to determine the degree of damage to the rectum.

Amoebiasis treatment

Drugs that adversely affect amoebas are divided into 2 main groups:

• contact (translucent) - Clefamid, Paromomycin, Etofamide - are used for asymptomatic amoebiasis, as well as for the prevention of relapses;
• tissue - Tinidazole, Ornidazole, Metronidazole - are prescribed for intestinal amoebiasis, as well as in the treatment of abscesses in the liver, lungs, and brain.

An intestinal disease caused by amoebas responds well to therapy and is almost completely cured in the early stages of the pathology.

Metronidazole helps with intestinal amoebiasis

Prevention

Infection with protozoa can be prevented by following simple preventive measures:

• use only boiled water (boil for at least 10 minutes);
• wash fruits and vegetables well before use;
• make sure that flies do not sit on food (cover with a protective film);
• adhere to the rules of personal hygiene (wash hands after using the toilet, before eating, after visiting public places and walking on the street);
• do not fertilize the beds with human feces.

It is important to have regular check-ups and not to ignore any unpleasant symptoms. This is the only way to protect yourself from a serious illness.

Amoeba are the simplest animals that consist of one cell. Among primitive microorganisms there is a dangerous species - dysenteric amoeba (not to be confused with malaria pathogens), which causes a dangerous intestinal disease amoebiasis. If the pathology is not detected in time, it can lead to severe complications in the liver, lungs and even the brain. Prevention and timely access to a specialist make it possible to prevent dangerous consequences.