Description

This book documents and presents new developments in the study of amebiasis, one of the neglected tropical diseases. Nearly 50 million people worldwide are infected with the pathogen Entamoeba histolytica, causing large-scale morbidity and mortality particularly in developing countries. This book will help clinicians for better diagnosis and management of the disease, researchers for initiating research projects on some of the poorly understood aspects of the disease and the pathogen, and students for updating their knowledge. The subjects covered range from genomics and molecular and cell biology to drug resistance and new drug development, highlighting major advances in recent years in our understanding due to rapid progress in genomic and other biomedical technologies, such as visualization of molecular processes. Most of the chapters provide recent information based on latest publications. A few chapters describe some of the critical methodological issues that will be helpful for students and researchers interested in getting into the field. The contributing authors include almost all the active researchers and clinicians from around the world. This book will be a useful primary material and a valuable source of information for anyone interested in understanding amebiasis, its diagnosis, and treatment. It will also be useful to those who are interested in learning about the biology of early branching eukaryotes and protist pathogens.