TY - JOUR AU - Aguayo-Patrón, Sandra AU - Castillo-Fimbres, Reyna AU - Quihui-Cota, Luis AU - Calderón de la Barca, Ana María PY - 2017/10/31 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Use of real-time polymerase chain reaction to identify Entamoeba histolytica in schoolchildren from northwest Mexico JF - The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries JA - J Infect Dev Ctries VL - 11 IS - 10 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.3855/jidc.9350 UR - https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/31600153 SP - 800-805 AB - <p>Introduction: <em>Entamoeba histolytica</em>, <em>E. dispar</em>, and <em>E. moshkovskii</em> are morphologically identical, but intestinal amebiasis is caused only by <em>E. histolytica</em>. Mexico is among the countries with high amebae infection rates, although the contribution of pathogenic amoeba to the total detected cases remains unknown, especially in the northwestern dry region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the actual prevalence of <em>E. histolytica</em> using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in schoolchildren of&nbsp; northwestern Mexico.</p><p>Methodology: Participants were children from five public elementary schools in the low-socioeconomic-level suburban areas of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. One stool sample was collected from each child and analyzed by the Faust technique for <em>Entamoeba </em>spp. and by real-time PCR for <em>E. histolytica</em>.</p><p>Results: Analysis of stool&nbsp; samples from 273 children (9.0 ± 1.5 years of age) resulted in 25 (9.2%) positive for <em>E. histolytica</em>/<em>E. dispar</em>/<em>E. moshkovskii</em> by the Faust technique; of these, 3 were positive for <em>E. histolytica</em> by real-time PCR. In addition, 2 samples that were negative for <em>E. histolytica</em>/<em>E. dispar</em>/<em>E. moshkovskii</em> by the Faust technique were positive by real-time PCR.</p><p>Conclusions: The actual prevalence of <em>E. histolytica</em> in our study population was 1.8%, which is lower than those reported in previous studies in other Mexican regions.</p> ER -