How Do You Get Acanthamoeba?

The life cycle of Acanthamoeba has two stages: it forms fluid-filled sacs (cysts) and grows parasites (trophozoites) in the tissue. These parasites can invade the body causing symptoms.

• Central nervous system (CNS): When Acanthamoeba enters through the respiratory system or ulcerated skin, it can affect the CNS and cause granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) or brain swelling in people with weak immunity. It is characterized by:
  • Headaches
  • Stiff neck
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Tiredness
  • Confusion
  • Lack of attention
  • Loss of balance
  • Bodily control
  • Seizures
  • Hallucinations
  • Death
• Eye infection can cause Acanthamoeba keratitis. The symptoms of Acanthamoeba keratitis can resemble symptoms of other more common eye infections. The symptoms, which can last from several weeks to months, are not the same for everyone and may include:
  • Eye pain
  • Redness of eyes
  • Blurred or decreased vision
  • Sensitivity to light
  • A sensation of something in the eye
  • Excessive tearing
  • Constant tears in the eyes
  • Rarely, permanent blindness
• Other organs: Infections may spread throughout the entire body including sinuses, lungs, and other organs. This also occurs more commonly in those with a weaker immune system known as disseminated infection.

Acanthamoeba infection may cause various illnesses in the body, such as:

• Acanthamoeba keratitis may lead to:
  • Inflammation of the lacrimal gland.
  • Scarring of the cornea (clear outer layer of the eye).
  • Damage to the eye (optic) nerve.
  • Clouding of the clear lens of the eye (cataract).
  • Reduction of blood supply to the back of the eyeball (rare).
  • Blindness.
• Skin lesions
• Infections in those with weaker immunity
• Serious fatal infection and inflammation of the brain and spinal cord (granulomatous amoebic encephalitis or GAE)
• Death

Acanthamoeba eye infection (Acanthamoeba keratitis) is usually treatable. They are:

• Medication: Medical treatment of full-blown Acanthamoeba keratitis is still in the developmental stage.
  • Pain-relieving drops will be prescribed.
  • Consequently, a combination of topical Biguanide and Diamidine therapy is used to treat Acanthamoeba keratitis. Topical dual therapy with Chlorhexidine 0.02% and Propamidine 0.1% hourly for 2-3 days is most followed. The frequency of the therapy may be lowered to four times a day. For disease limited to the epithelium, therapy may be discontinued after 2-4 weeks. For more intense infection, long-standing therapy is preferred.
  • Recurrence is quite common and Acanthamoeba cysts are treatment-resistant; therefore, the frequency of medical treatment will be reduced very slowly. Sometimes, treatment may continue for many months.
• Surgical intervention: In case of tear or scarring in the cornea (clear outer layer of the eye), the eye doctor may suggest corneal transplantation called keratoplasty. Also, after keratoplasty surgery, active medical therapy using antibiotics, antivirals, or antiparasitics will be given in the case of any active infection to avoid recurrent infection in the graft.