Entamoeba hartmanni is, like Entamoeba coli, a non-pathogenic protozoa - may be found during stool examination and need to be differentiated from potentially pathogenic protozoa such as E. histolytica
found worldwide
life cycle:
similar to that of E. histolytica but it does not have an invasive stage and does not ingest red blood cells
organisms exists as a motile trophozoite and a cyst
the cyst can survive outside the body and can be transmitted to humans via ingestion of contaminated food or water.
may also be spread directly by person-to- person contact (faecal-oral route)
whilst the cysts are in the small intestine, the trophozoites emerge, pass down into the colon and then multiply. Cysts and trophozoites are excreted in the faeces. Cysts are then ingested via the faecal-oral route/contaminated food/water
laboratory features:
diagnosis is made by finding the characteristic cysts in an iodine stained, formol-ether concentration method or by detecting the characteristic trophozoites in a wet preparation or a permanent stained preparation
E. hartmanni is morphologically similar to E. histolytica, but has smaller cysts ( 10 µm on wet preparation; 9 µm on permanently stained smear) and and smaller trophozoites ( 12 µm on wet preparation; 11 µm on permanently stained smear) in comparison with E. histolytica
clinical features:
presence of these organisms may imply host consumption of fecally contaminated water or food. However, there is no evidence that any of these protozoa have pathogenic potential, even in immunocompromised hosts
management: seek expert advice from microbiologist
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