Epidemiology and treatment of amebiasis in Hué, Vietnam.

Hué, a city of about 300,000 inhabitants in Central Vietnam, is known as a "hot spot" for diseases caused by Entamoeba histolytica and in particular for amebic liver abscess (ALA), thus representing an excellent site for studies on the epidemiology and treatment of E. histolytica infections. Accordingly, during the last few years, various studies on this topic have been performed in Hué in close collaboration among the Hué Medical College, the Hué Central Hospital and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany. These studies comprised (i) comprehensive analyses of a considerably large number of ALA cases, (ii) parasitological and seroepidemiological surveys on the prevalence and outcome of E. histolytica infections as well as (iii) comparative randomized treatment trials in order to optimize the therapeutic regimen for ALA and for asymptomatic E. histolytica infection.