20 



HUMAN INTESTINAL PROTOZOA IN THE NEAR EAST 



in the various groups agree fairly closely. As was to be expected, 

 the commonest protozoon is E. coli. The second is E. histolytica, 

 while lamblia comes next. Tetramitus and trichomonas occurred 

 in equal frequency. Undiagnosed entarnoebse (unassociated with 

 cysts and not including red blood corpuscles) are placed in a 

 group apart. The iodine-cysts were fairly regularly encountered, 

 as were the small amoebae which we have called Entamceba 

 nana. 



(b) Convalescents. It was thought that some insight into the 

 various protozoal infections would be gained by examining con- 

 valescents from various diseases in the Convalescent Depot at 

 Mustapha. Accordingly, we examined 328 convalescents, with 

 the results set out in the second column of Table IX. It will be 

 seen that the percentages of infections did not differ to any extent, 

 though they were generally higher than those we found amongst 

 the healthy men, and, furthermore, they resembled very closely 

 the findings made by one of us in London last year amongst 

 556 cases which had been invalided from Gallipoli and the Eastern 

 Mediterranean (Table IX). It will be seen that the London cases 

 gave slightly higher percentages all round. Another notable feature 

 is the absence of any coccidial infections amongst the Egyptian 

 cases. Apart from the difference in the coccidium infections, the 

 variation in the two results can be explained by the fact that many 

 of the London cases were examined more than once, and infections 

 not found on first examinations were encountered at subsequent 

 ones. From what has been said above regarding the fallacy 

 attending the single examination, it is perhaps surprising that 

 the results agree as closely as they do. The Mustapha cases were 

 only examined once. 



TABLE IV. THE CARRIERS OF E. histolytica AMONGST A SERIES OP 328 

 CONVALESCENTS IN MUSTAPHA CONVALESCENT DEPOT, ALEXANDRIA, ARRANGED 

 WITH REFERENCE TO STATIONS AND PAST DYSENTERY. 



Of these convalescents, 217 had served on the Peninsula, and of 

 this number 58 gave a history of previous dysentery, while 157 

 had no such history. The percentage of E. histolytica carriers 



