Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Amoeba That Eats Human Intestines, Cell By Cell

Posted by samzenpus on from the break-out-the-pepto dept.

sciencehabit (1205606) writes "Entamoeba histolytica is a tiny pathogen that takes a terrible toll. The single-celled parasite—an amoeba about a tenth the size of a dust mite—infects 50 million people worldwide and kills as many as 100,000 each year. Now, a new report reveals how the microbe does its deadly damage: by eating cells alive, piece by piece. The finding offers a potential target for new drugs to treat E. histolytica infections, and it transforms researchers' understanding of how the parasite works."

2 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Re:infects 50 million, eh? by hawkeyeMI · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm guessing you haven't had amoebic dysentery. It saps all your energy and makes you poop blood. I'll take driving to work, thank you.

    --
    Error 404 - Sig Not Found
  2. Re:infects 50 million, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I had this (stayed in some slums in tropical areas where the water supply comes from a deep-well 5 meters down, meanwhile the toilet buries the shit in sand 2 meters down. . . so shit has 3 meters to turn back into water. . . usually this works surprisingly well!).

    Anyway, treated it goes away fairly quickly, even with the current non-specific medicines (though these are powerful antibiotics and will wipe out *all* of the good stuff with the bad. . . this can have serious consequences for some).

    Untreated, you're in for a year of fever and shitting blood before you'll eventually clear it (maybe staying a carrier) and develop immunity.