1/3. Environmental isolation of balamuthia mandrillaris associated with a case of amebic encephalitis.This report describes the first isolation of the ameba balamuthia mandrillaris from an environmental soil sample associated with a fatal case of amebic encephalitis in a northern california child. Isolation of the ameba into culture from autopsied brain tissue confirmed the presence of Balamuthia: In trying to locate a possible source of infection, soil and water samples from the child's home and play areas were examined for the presence of Balamuthia: The environmental samples (plated onto nonnutrient agar with escherichia coli as a food source) contained, in addition to the ameba, a variety of soil organisms, including other amebas, ciliates, fungi, and nematodes, as contaminants. Presumptive Balamuthia amebas were recognized only after cultures had been kept for several weeks, after they had burrowed into the agar. These were transferred through a succession of nonnutrient agar plates to eliminate fungal and other contaminants. In subsequent transfers, axenic Naegleria amebas and, later, tissue cultures (monkey kidney cells) served as the food source. Finally, the amebas were transferred to cell-free axenic medium. in vitro, the Balamuthia isolate is a slow-growing organism with a generation time of approximately 30 h and produces populations of approximately 2 x 10(5) amebas per ml. It was confirmed as Balamuthia by indirect immunofluorescence staining with rabbit anti-Balamuthia serum and human anti-Balamuthia antibody-containing serum from the amebic encephalitis patient. The environmental isolate is similar in its antimicrobial sensitivities and identical in its 16S ribosomal dna sequences to the Balamuthia isolate from the deceased patient.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = water (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/3. Cerebrospinal acanthamebic granulomas. Case report.The authors present the case of a previously healthy 26-year-old man who presented with cerebrospinal acanthamebic granulomas, and they review the literature on acanthamebic granulomas of the central nervous system (CNS). The appearance of the lesion on imaging studies suggested the presence of tuberculous granulomas, which are common in india, and antituberculosis treatment was started. Despite surgical excision of a granuloma located in the right temporoparietal region and an intramedullary granuloma at T7-8, the disease progressed and resulted in death. Unlike other cases, this patient was not immunocompromised, had no history of engaging in water activities, and had no ulcers on his body, leaving in question the mode of entry used by the ameba. Acanthamebic granulomas can cause severe infections in healthy patients as well as in sick ones. This disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis when treating infective granulomas of the CNS.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = water (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/3. Fatal case of naegleria fowleri meningo-encephalitis in an infant: case report.Primary amoebic meningo-encephalitis (PAM) is extremely rare and is caused by naegleria fowleri. It is ?commonly seen in older children who swim in water contaminated with Naegleria species. It is very rare to contract the illness by any other means. We report a case of PAM in an infant aged 6 months. To the best of our knowledge, only one other case of PAM in an infant has been reported from india. A high index of suspicion is required in infants who manifest similarly to pyogenic meningitis but whose CSF shows no bacterial organisms so that a wet mount of a CSF sample can be done for early detection of naegleria fowleri infection and appropriate intervention.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = water (Clic here for more details about this article) |