Primary prevention
Primary prevention is accomplished by taking precautionary measures against ingestion of faecally contaminated food and water, particularly in endemic areas, such as not drinking tap water and not consuming food that may have been washed in contaminated water.[1] Patients with a high risk for sexual transmission of amoebiasis should be counselled on safer sex.[11]
Secondary prevention
There is evidence of household transmission of amoebiasis (common in developing countries, but extremely rare in developed countries), so it is prudent for all household contacts of the patient to be screened for amoebiasis using stool microscopy followed by confirmatory PCR, or directly by stool PCR.[1][5][24]
To reduce risk of spreading infection, patients should be advised to wash hands regularly and not to share household towels. Patients with diarrhoea should not return to work/other settings until 48 hours after resolution of any episodes of diarrhoea. No additional formal exclusion periods or microbiological clearance for public health reasons for confirmed cases of E histolytica infection are required.[24]
Reinfection occurs easily in endemic regions. Patients with a high risk for sexual transmission of amoebiasis should be counselled on safer sex to avoid recurrence.[11]
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