Amoebiasis can affect anyone, however, the disease mostly occurs in young to middle aged adults.
Amoebiasis is generally associated with people living in areas of poor sanitation and is a common cause of diarrhoea among travellers to developing countries. To trace the cause of the illness, it is necessary to know what you ate and drank and where you travelled in the weeks before you became ill. Entamoeba histolytica parasites are only found in humans. People with amoebiasis have Entamoeba histolytica parasites in their faeces. If these people do not wash their hands properly after going to the toilet, then contaminated hands can spread the parasites to surfaces and objects which will be touched by other people.