Author(s): Nida Tabassum Khan and Nusrat Jahan
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.
