ABSTRACT
Children are undoubtedly among the most vulnerable individuals to contract amebiasis and suffer amebic disease in communities where amebiasis is endemic, children are affected to a similar or greater degree than the adult population. The frequency of amebic infection and disease in the infantile population of a given community can be estimated from the number of recorded cases of intestinal and hepatic amebic disease, from seroepidemiologic studies, from institutional autopsies and from carrier analysis in the open population. Invasive intestinal amebiasis is more frequent in children than in adults. The classical amebic dysentery with frequent, blood-stained, mucus-containing stools with scarce fecal material, accompanied by abdominal cramps and tenesmus, is less frequent in children than in adults. A presumptive diagnosis of amebic abscess of the liver can be established in children by careful integration of the clinical syndrome. In endemic areas, fever and painful hepatomegaly should immediately suggest the possibility of amebic abscess of the liver.
