Prevalence of potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae from Acanthamoeba and Naegleria genera in non-hospital, public, internal environments from the city of Santos, Brazil
Braz. j. infect. dis
;
13(6): 395-397, Dec. 2009.
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-546005
ABSTRACT
Acanthamoeba and Naegleria species are free-living amoebae (FLA) found in a large variety of natural habitats. The prevalence of such amoebae was determined from dust samples taken from public non-hospital internal environments with good standards of cleanliness from two campuses of the same University in the city of Santos (SP), Brazil, and where young and apparently healthy people circulate. The frequency of free-living amoebae in both campuseswas 39 percent and 17 percent respectively, with predominance of the genus Acanthamoeba. On the campus with a much larger number of circulating individuals, the observed frequency of free-living amoebae was 2.29 times larger (P< 0.00005). Two trophozoite forms of Naegleria fowleri, are the only species of this genus known to cause primary amoebian meningoencephalitis, a rare and non-opportunistic infection. We assume that the high frequency of these organisms in different internal locations represents some kind of public health risk.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Universities
/
Acanthamoeba
/
Naegleria
/
Dust
/
Environment
Type of study:
Prevalence study
/
Risk factors
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. infect. dis
Journal subject:
Communicable Diseases
Year:
2009
Type:
Article
/
Project document
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Catholic University of Santos/BR
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS