Research Information System
TÜRKİYE PARAZİTOLOJİ DERGİSİ, vol.24, no.4, pp.360-364, 2000 (Scopus)
Data from 104 adult in-patients diagnosed with amoebiasis between January 1994 and July 2000 were evaluated in a retrospective study in Turkey. The mean interval between illness and presentation at the clinic was 3.9 days and on average, patients had diarrhoea episodes 11.3 times. The symptoms included: fever (in 63.5%), stomach ache (in 88.5%), bloody diarrhoea (in 53.8%), mucoid faeces (in 58.7%), nausea (in 80.1%) and vomiting (in 51.9%). Occult blood was detected in 76.9% of cases and 22.1% had concurrent gastrointestinal disease. The patients were divided into 3 groups for treatment. The first group (n=12) was given metronidazole at 8-h intervals, and the 2nd group (n=69) was given metronidazole at 12-h intervals. The 3rd group (n=23) included patients with concurrent gastrointestinal disease and were treated with metronidazole at 8-h intervals. 69.2% of all patients were given intravenous treatment for 2.4 days because they could not take drugs orally. The clinical improvement and microbiological results were similar in all the groups. It is concluded that metronidazole at 12-h intervals is sufficient to treat amoebiasis. It is important to detect and treat any other pathogens in order to achieve a complete cure.