The possibility of congenital infection with Acanthamoeba culbertsoni.

Acanthamoeba culbertsoni is one of the free-living amoebae which are known to be pathogenic to man, causing granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE). In this study, Acanthamoeba culbertsoni was isolated from a water sample of El-Mahmoudia Canal in Alexandria, in July-1993. This was used to infect mice intranasally to study the histopathological picture of the brain and lungs. The neuropathological features consisted of chronic granulomatous encephalitis in which cysts and trophozoites were found. Associated Acanthamoeba pneumonitis with massive consolidation was also observed. Congenital infection of offsprings was reported for the first time in this study.