Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Sep:110:226-228.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.07.046. Epub 2021 Jul 22.

Successful management of post-COVID-19 acanthamoebic encephalitis

Govinda Siripurapu  1 , Sameer Abdul Samad  2 , Saman Fatima  1 , Naveet Wig  3 , M V Padma Srivastava  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Successful management of post-COVID-19 acanthamoebic encephalitis

Govinda Siripurapu et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Acanthamoebic encephalitis is a rare and highly fatal disease that has no standard management protocol. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes immune dysfunction and may predispose patients to this infection. The present study describes successful management of acanthamoebic encephalitis in a young male who recently recovered from COVID-19 using a combination of medical and surgical approaches. A combination of miltefosine with other agents with trophicidal and cysticidal activities should be used in the regimen. Surgical excision of the abscess should be undertaken whenever feasible.

Keywords: Acanthamoeba; COVID-19; acanthamoebic encephalitis; miltefosine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing interests that influenced the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A. The brain-axial T2 and coronal fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI images showing a multifocal variable-sized ring and nodular enhancing lesions in the bilateral hemispheres. B. Histopathological examination showing acanthamoeba trophozoites in the brain tissue (arrows). C. MRI images prior to excision of the abscess D. Noncontrast computed tomography image after surgical debridement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Acanthamoeba - Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis (GAE); Keratitis | Acanthamoeba | Parasites | CDC. n.d. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/acanthamoeba/index.html (accessed June 6, 2021).
    1. Alli A, Ortiz JF, Morillo Cox Á, Armas M, Orellana VA. Miltefosine: A Miracle Drug for Meningoencephalitis Caused by Free-Living Amoebas. Cureus. 2021;13 doi: 10.7759/cureus.13698. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bouyer S, Imbert C, Daniault G, Cateau E, Rodier MH. Effect of caspofungin on trophozoites and cysts of three species of Acanthamoeba. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2007;59:122–124. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkl451. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brindley N, Matin A, Khan NA. Acanthamoeba castellanii: High antibody prevalence in racially and ethnically diverse populations. Exp Parasitol. 2009;121:254–256. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2008.11.009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Caserta S, Maria Terrazzini N, Borger J, Wu Y, Chen Y, Diao B, et al. Article 827 (2020) Reduction and Functional Exhaustion of T Cells in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Front Immunol. 2019;11:827. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00827. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types