Abstract
Free-living amoebae (FLA) of the genus Acanthamoeba are widely distributed in the environment, in the air, soil, and water, and have also been isolated from air-conditioning units. The objective of this work was to investigate the presence of this genus of FLA in the air-conditioning equipment at the Institute of Public Health of Chile in Santiago, Chile. Water and air samples were collected from air-conditioning systems and were checked for the presence of Acanthamoeba spp. Positive samples were further classified at the genotype level after sequencing the highly variable diagnostic fragment 3 (DF3) region of the 18S rRNA gene. This is the first report of the T3, T4, and T11 genotypes of Acanthamoeba in air-conditioning units from Chile. Overall, the widespread distribution of potentially pathogenic Acanthamoeba strains in the studied source demands more awareness within the public and health professionals in Chile as this pathogen is emerging as a risk for human health worldwide.
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