title: Short communication: Misleading microscopy in amoebiasis.
abstract: High prevalences of intestinal amoebiasis are commonly reported by microscopy in Ethiopia. In order to confirm the actual occurrence of Entamoeba histolytica we collected 108 stool specimens from different hospitals & health centers from patients in whom haematophagous trophozoites were believed to be found. We detected only a single E. histolytica case while 77 (71.3%) were E. dispar and the remaining 30 samples were negative for both species by real-time PCR based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequence of E. histolytica and E. dispar. The tradition of microscopy in a routine diagnostic set-up appears unsatisfactory to reliably differentiate rbc-engulfing amoeba from non-invasive amoeba in wet smears.
authors.affiliation: Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute/Ethio-Netherlands AIDS Research Project, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. amha@enarp.com
authors.forename: Amha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kebede
authors.forename: Jaco J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Verweij
authors.forename: Beyene
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Petros
authors.forename: Anton M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Polderman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004404:Dysentery, Amebic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000592:standards*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods