@article {1805,
	title = {Naegleria and {Acanthamoeba} {Infections}: {Review}},
	journal = {Reviews of Infectious Diseases},
	volume = {12},
	year = {1990},
	pages = {490{\textendash}513},
	abstract = {<p>Infections caused by small, free-living amebas are still unfamiliar to many clinicians, pathologists, and laboratorians. As of 31 July 1989, more than 140 cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis caused by Naegleria fowleri and more than 40 cases of granulomatous amebic encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba species (including two cases in patients with AIDS) and possibly by other free-living amebas had occurred worldwide. The recent increase in acanthamoeba keratitis (more than 200 cases), especially in contact lens wearers, has generated new interest in this group of amebas. Effective treatment is still lacking. Risk factors, clinical manifestations, and laboratory parameters helpful in the recognition of infections of the central nervous system (i.e., granulomatous amebic encephalitis and primary amebic meningoencephalitis) and acanthamoeba keratitis are reviewed.</p>
},
	issn = {0162-0886},
	url = {https://www.jstor.org/stable/4455558},
	author = {Ma, Pearl and Visvesvara, Govinda S. and Martinez, Augusto J. and Theodore, Frederick H. and Daggett, Pierre-Marc and Sawyer, Thomas K.}
}
@article {1801,
	title = {Pathogenic and opportunistic free-living amoebae: Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris, Naegleria fowleri, and Sappinia diploidea},
	journal = {FEMS Immunology \& Medical Microbiology},
	volume = {50},
	year = {2007},
	pages = {1{\textendash}26},
	abstract = {<p>Among the many genera of free-living amoebae that exist in nature, members of only four genera have an association with human disease: Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris, Naegleria fowleri and Sappinia diploidea. Acanthamoeba spp. and B. mandrillaris are opportunistic pathogens causing infections of the central nervous system, lungs, sinuses and skin, mostly in immunocompromised humans. Balamuthia is also associated with disease in immunocompetent children, and Acanthamoeba spp. cause a sight-threatening infection, Acanthamoeba keratitis, mostly in contact-lens wearers. Of more than 30 species of Naegleria, only one species, N. fowleri, causes an acute and fulminating meningoencephalitis in immunocompetent children and young adults. In addition to human infections, Acanthamoeba, Balamuthia and Naegleria can cause central nervous system infections in animals. Because only one human case of encephalitis caused by Sappinia diploidea is known, generalizations about the organism as an agent of disease are premature. In this review we summarize what is known of these free-living amoebae, focusing on their biology, ecology, types of disease and diagnostic methods. We also discuss the clinical profiles, mechanisms of pathogenesis, pathophysiology, immunology, antimicrobial sensitivity and molecular characteristics of these amoebae.</p>
},
	issn = {0928-8244},
	doi = {10.1111/j.1574-695X.2007.00232.x},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-695X.2007.00232.x},
	author = {Visvesvara, Govinda S. and Moura, Hercules and Schuster, Frederick L.}
}
