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Author Spotlight: Studying Behavior of Acanthamoeba to Develop Targeted Strategies for Preventing Acanthamoeba Keratitis
Published on: September 20, 2024
Virulent T4 Acanthamoeba causing keratitis in a patient after swimming while wearing contact lenses in Southern
Laura Fuhrich Fabres1, Vinicius José Maschio1, Denise Leal Dos Santos1
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Institute of Basic Health Sciences, Division of Parasitology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Sarmento Leite Street, N 500, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 90050-170, Brazil.
Abstract:
Several strains of free-living amoebae belonging to the genus Acanthamoeba can cause a painful sight-threatening disease of the cornea known as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). The numbers of AK cases keep rising worldwide mainly due to an increase in contact lens wearers and lack of hygiene in the maintenance of contact lenses and their cases. We report a case of AK in a healthy young woman admitted to the Hospital de Clinicas in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. Corneal scrapings were examined for the presence of Acanthamoeba strains. The initial isolate was characterized by morphological and genotypic properties. The isolate belonged to group III according to Pussard and Pons' cyst morphology. Analysis of its 18S rDNA sequence identified the isolate as genotype T4. The T4 genotype is the most commonly reported among keratitis isolates and the most common in environmental samples.
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