IMMUNOPATHOLOGY OF AMOEBIASIS IN IBADAN

SUMMARY

Amoebiasis exemplifies a disease of protean manifestations which presents many perplexing problems. In this thesis an attempt is made to define a number of the wide variations which have been observed in the pathological manifestations of the disease. The work consists of both retrospective and prospective Studies. The retrospective study involved a review of the 7922 protocols of the autopsies at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, during the ten year period 1958 to 1967. 135 cases in which lesions of amoebiasis were described, were selected for special study using 276 cases of other diarrhoea diseases as controls. The results of this review defined the pathology and complications of amoebiasis seen at the UCH, during the period covered by this study. A prospective study which included field surveys. laboratory studies on patients and controls; and in-vitro studies of the parasite. was also carried out. Parasitological, biochemical and immunological techniques were applied in the prospective study of 1291 subjects in a field survey. In addition some 200 hospital materials were included in the prospective study. The results obtained provided the basis for the suggestions made concerning the different methods that can be applied to the future study of the prevalence of amoebiasis in any given population exposed to the risk of infection by Entamoebahistolytica.