Prevalence of E. histolytica Associated Dysentery in Children in Satellite Town, Quetta Nida Tabassum Khan * and Nusrat Jahan Department of Biotechnology, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Quetta, Pakistan * Corresponding author: Nida Tabassum Khan, Faculty of Life Sciences and Informatics, Department of Biotechnology, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences,(BUITEMS),Quetta, Pakistan, Tel: +92 03368164903; E-mail: nidatabassumkhan@yahoo.com Received date: January 01, 2017; Accepted date: January 25, 2017; Published date: January 30, 2017 Copyright: © 2017 Khan NT, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Amoebic dysentery is an infection of the gastrointestinal tract caused by the parasitic Entamoeba histolytica, the most invasive type of Entamoeba species. Tropical and sub-tropical developing countries like South Africa, West Africa, Central America, South America, India, Pakistan and Mexico have high rate of incidence where it is a serious health threat. Commonly it affects young to middle-aged adults but the most affected age groups are of infants. Among the infected ones 90% does not produce any symptoms and are therefore asymptomatic but the remaining 10% produces a spectrum varying from dysentery (inflammation of the intestine i.e. large intestine characterized by the presence of blood and mucus in their faeces) to amoebic liver abscess. This study was conducted in Satellite town (an area in Quetta city) and stool samples of 100 patients were collected from a nearby hospital (Saiban family hospital) in this particular area. The patients within age group between 2 to 6 years were examined for E. histolytica cysts presence using iodine solution as the basic diagnostic technique. Parameters like gender, haeme positive stool, blood group, BMI and age were determined for the examined patients. Besides that a questionnaire was also designed consisting of simple questions related to the disease to know more about its occurrence. The results obtained from this analytical study revealed that the incidence of childhood dysentery is relatively high in this area indicating that the parasite is more prevalent in male (77%) children within the age group of 2-5 as compared to in females. The high rate of incidence of this parasite could be due to low immunity level of the hosts caused as a result of malnourished status, poor personal hygiene and inadequate sanitary conditions. Contaminated water supply also contributes to this high rate. Keywords: Amoebic dysentery; Entamoeba histolytica; Cysts; Satellite town Introduction Amoebic dysentery is caused by the pathogen Entamoeba histolytica, a parasitic protozoan, which primarily infects humans and other primates [1].Tis parasitic infection targets the large intestine of the host organism and there is no age limit for its incidence. It commonly afects young ones and middle aged adults. Amoebic dysentery is also known as Amoebiasis which is defned as the harboring of the pathogen Entameoba histolytica with or without clinical symptoms. Tropical and sub-tropical areas have high rate of incidence of amoebiasis where it is a serious health threat however it is worldwide distributed [2]. Te number of infected ones per year is found to be 450 million, with a death incidence of 50 million, and 100,000 in total (Ravdin and Petri)[3]. Out of 100 about 90% of infected patients do not show any symptoms and are asymptomatic and the remaining 10% produces a spectrum varying from dysentery (infammation of the large intestine characterized by the presence of blood and mucus in their faecal excrete) to amoebic liver abscess [4]. Te primary reservoir for E. histolytica is “Humans” and the major route of transmission is through contaminated fresh food or water [5,6]. Another route of transmission is oral-anal sexual contact [5]. Symptomatic intestinal amoebiasis usually presents with a subacute onset of one to three weeks. Te symptoms range from mild diarrhea to severe dysentery (proctocolitis) with abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea [7]. Patients with dysentery typically have colic pain. Although weight loss occurs in about one-ffh of patients [8] and fever in about 8 to 38% [7], systemic manifestations are generally absent. Tese presentations can be diferentiated from diarrhea of bacterial origin, where patients frequently display systemic signs and symptoms, such as fever, chills, headache, anorexia, nausea and vomiting [5]. Te diagnosis of invasive amoebiasis can be achieved by a combination of methods, such as stool examination, serological testing, and colonoscopy and biopsy of intestinal lesions [8]. Presence of cysts or trophozoites on stool microscopy suggests intestinal amoebic infection. Te possible treatment is Antibiotic for intestinal amoebiasis to eradicate the invasive trophozoites and the intestinal carriage of the organism. Metronidazole is considered to be the drug of choice for symptomatic invasive amoebiasis. Paromomycin is considered to be the drug of choice for non-invasive disease [6]. Moreover, resistance to this drug has not been reported. Other drug treatments include tinidazole, ornidazole, chloroquine, and dehydroemetine (for in- patient use). Prevention strategies for travelers to endemic areas include avoiding un-boiled or un-bottled water, uncooked food, and fruits and vegetables that may have been washed with local water. Tere is some evidence of acquired partial immunity against amoebic infection. Development of vaccine is currently ongoing. Te exact rate of incidence of Amoebic dysentery in the tropical and subtropical areas where it is reportedly endemic is unknown however its distribution is acknowledged to be worldwide [9]. Unfortunately, there is insufcient information with regards to the incidence of intestinal amoebic dysentery in children inspite of the increasing number of patients with this condition. Terefore in the light of the above mentioned clinical and public health importance of amoebic dysentery, the main aim of Epidemiology: Open Access Khan and Jahan, Epidemiology (Sunnyvale) 2017, 7:1 DOI: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000290 Research Article OMICS International Epidemiology (Sunnyvale), an open access journal ISSN:2161-1165 Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000290 E p i d e m i o l o g y : O p e n A c c e s s ISSN: 2161-1165