title: Short communication: Prevalence of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar in northern Ghana.
abstract: Since the redescription of the potentially invasive Entamoeba histolytica, separating it from the morphologically identical non-invasive Entamoeba dispar, there is a need for the reassessment of epidemiological data on amoebiasis. In this context we conducted a descriptive survey on the presence of E. histolytica and E. dispar in a rural area in northern Ghana. We found a high prevalence (39.8%) of the E. histolytica/E. dispar complex with microscopy, but E. histolytica and E. dispar-specific DNA amplification using real-time polymerase chain reaction identified only one E. histolytica case and revealed a considerably higher prevalence of E. dispar (82.8%).
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands. j.j.verweij@lumc.nl
authors.forename: Jaco J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Verweij
authors.forename: Fieke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oostvogel
authors.forename: Eric A T
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Brienen
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nang-Beifubah
authors.forename: Juventus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ziem
authors.forename: Anton M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Polderman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004747:Entamoeba / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004749:Entamoebiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan