Association of malnutrition with amebiasis.

Observation of a cohort of preschool children in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is beginning to reveal the contributions of environment, host, and parasite to amebiasis. Reviewed here are the associations and interactions of malnutrition, IgA and interferon-gamma, human leukocyte antigen alleles, and parasite genotypes to the outcome of infection. Future efforts aimed at understanding the mechanisms of these effects are described.