Abstract
The genus Entamoeba includes a variety of widely distributed species adapted to live in the digestive tracts of humans and a large variety of animals of different classes. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence, distribution, and molecular epidemiology of Entamoeba spp. in different classes of hosts in Brazil. Studies that analyzed hosts from several classes, including humans and domestic, wild, or captive animals, were considered. The pooled prevalence of Entamoeba spp. was calculated using the random-effects model. A total of 166 studies on humans and 16 on animals were included. The prevalence of Entamoeba spp. in the Brazilian population was 22% (95% CI: 21–24). The state with the highest prevalence was Paraiba with 72%, followed by Federal District with 53%, and Rondonia with 50%. In immunocompromized patients, the prevalence was 18%, and cancer (36%) was the most prevalent cause of immunosuppression. The prevalence of Entamoeba spp. in animal hosts was 12% (95% CI: 7–17). Captive wild animals and domestic farm animals showed the highest prevalence, with 16% and 15%, respectively. The species found more often were E. coli (86.5%), E. dispar (7.9%), and E. histolytica (3.1%). In conclusion, a high prevalence (22%) of Entamoeba spp. was found in the Brazilian population, with a prevalence of up to 50% mainly in the northern, northeastern, and central-western regions. The pathogenic species E. histolytica is distributed in most Brazilian regions, with significant prevalence percentages. Among animals, unidentified Entamoeba species were most prevalent in mammals.
Highlights
IntroductionThe main species of this genus that parasitize humans are E. histolytica, E. dispar, E. moshkovskii, E. coli, E. polecki, E. bangladeshi, and E. hartmanni [84, 124, 151, 174]
The genus Entamoeba includes a variety of anaerobic, unicellular, and monoxenic protozoan species adapted to live as parasites or commensals in the digestive tracts of humans and a large variety of animals of different classes [5, 7, 64, 110, 112, 205, 206].The main species of this genus that parasitize humans are E. histolytica, E. dispar, E. moshkovskii, E. coli, E. polecki, E. bangladeshi, and E. hartmanni [84, 124, 151, 174]
The pooled prevalence was calculated with samples of studies published between 1962 to 2020, so this percentage represents an overall prevalence of Entamoeba spp. in different hosts during this period of time, in Brazil
Summary
The main species of this genus that parasitize humans are E. histolytica, E. dispar, E. moshkovskii, E. coli, E. polecki, E. bangladeshi, and E. hartmanni [84, 124, 151, 174]. Entamoeba histolytica shows several degrees of virulence and is capable of invading a wide variety of tissues in the host, including those of the colon and liver, and more rarely the lung, skin, urogenital tract, brain, and spleen. This invasive feature separates it from the other species [70]. It is estimated that amebiasis accounts for 55 500 all-age deaths and causes disability-adjusted life years at 2.237 million [211]
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