Free-Living Amoeba as Agents of Infection
Continuing Education Credits
Most protozoa are free-living and have little or no impact on human health. They are found throughout the environment, particularly in soil and water. However, there are four free-living amoeba that have been associated with serious human infections. This course seeks to identify these amoeba and discuss their life cycles, methods of infection, and the symptoms that occur, as well as determine preventive measures that may be available.
Objectives
- Identify the primary free-living amoeba that infect humans and contrast their life cycles.
- Recognize the method of infection and symptoms that occur for each of the free-living amoeba reviewed.
- Describe diagnostic methods for each of the free-living amoeba in this course.
- Determine preventive measures for each of the free-living amoeba.
Course Outline
- Introduction
- Terms to Remember
- Introduction
- Naegleria fowleri
- Introduction: Naegleria fowleri
- Life Cycle: Naegleria fowleri
- Possible Mechanisms of Infection: Naegleria fowleri
- Illness and Symptoms: Naegleria fowleri
- Laboratory Diagnostic Methods: Naegleria fowleri
- Laboratory Diagnostic Methods, continued: Naegleria fowleri
- Case of a Survivor: Naegleria fowleri
- Where is Naegleria fowleri found most often in nature?
- True or False: People may become infected with Naegleria fowleri by drinking contaminated water.
- Treatment: Naegleria fowleri
- Prevention: Naegleria fowleri
- Acanthamoeba species
- Introduction: Acanthamoeba species
- Possible Mechanisms of Infection: Acanthamoeba Species
- Life Cycle: Acanthamoeba species
- Illness and Symptoms: Acanthamoeba species
- Illness and Symptoms, continued: Acanthamoeba species
- Illness and Symptoms, continued: Acanthamoeba species
- Laboratory Diagnostic Methods: Acanthamoeba species
- Treatment: Acanthamoeba species
- Prevention: Acanthamoeba species
- On what did Byers base his 1991 classification of the genus Acanthamoeba species?
- True or False: Acanthamoeba keratitis primarily affects otherwise healthy people - usually those wearing contact lenses.
- Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Introduction: Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Life Cycle: Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Life Cycle: Balamuthia mandrillaris, continued
- Possible Mechanisms of Infection: Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Illness and Symptoms: Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Laboratory Diagnostic Methods: Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Treatment and Prevention: Balamuthia mandrillaris
- Additional Suggested Reading
- Additional Suggested Reading
- References
- References
Additional Information
Level of instruction: Basic
Intended Audience: Medical laboratory scientists, medical technologists, and technicians. This course is also appropriate for medical laboratory science students and pathology residents.
Author information: Garland E. Pendergraph, PhD, JD, MLS(ASCP)SM, HCLD/CC(ABB) received his MSPH from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, his PhD in medical parasitology/entomology and mycology from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and his law degree with a concentration in health care law from Concord Law School, Purdue University. He also did a Fellowship in Tropical Medicine at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He is the author of a textbook in phlebotomy, a number of scientific articles, plus internet training programs. He is the director of five laboratories.
Co-author information: Tamika Gosha, MA, MLT(ASCP), MT(AAB) is the laboratory manager at the student health services, Valdosta State University. She received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees from Purdue University.
Reviewer Information: Alexandru Casapu, MBA, MLS(ASCP)CM, PBTCM has over 20 years of experience as an MLS, section supervisor, and laboratory manager. A former Director of Clinical Laboratory Technology Program at Georgia Piedmont Technical College, he is currently a Program Director at MediaLab, Inc.
Reviewer Information: Dr. Julie Ann West is certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) as a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) and as a Specialist in Microbiology (SM). In addition, Dr. West has earned a PhD in Public Health - Infectious Disease Epidemiology - and is Certified in Public Health (CPH) by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. Dr. West is experienced as a Technical Specialist, Safety Officer, Educator, and Lead in the Veterans Administration Healthcare System, and has prior experience as an Administrative Laboratory Director.