Home Sick Amoebiasis Amoebiasis is a disease caused by a one-celled parasite. It is found most commonly in Mexico, South America, India and South and West Africa. The commonest form of amoebic disease is diarrhea and dysentery. The symptoms usually appear some weeks or months after exposure and tend to be chronic, lasting weeks rather than days. Typically, one has very gassy, loose stools along with abdominal bloating, loss of appetite and abdominal cramps.
Diarrhea can be quite severe and even progress to bloody dysentery.
There may also be fever, fatigue, depression and a general feeling of malaise. This especially true if the disease has spread to the liver. Periods of illness may alternate with periods of feeling relatively well. Prevention is by careful hand washing, avoidance of potentially contaminated food and water, and safe sexual practices. Diagnosis of the disease is usually by a careful stool examination by well-trained personnel and by certain blood antibody tests.