122 The Philippine Journal of Science 1917 



ETIOLOGY 

 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



Tropical abscess of the liver, another name applied to amoebic 

 abscess of the liver, as the name implies, occurs in the tropics. 

 All authors agree that it is very common in India, Egypt, the 

 Algerian province of Oran,(i) northern and western Africa (Gold 

 Coast) , and in Indo-China. (2) It is less prevalent in Ceylon, Ma- 

 lay Peninsula, Java, and Sumatra and is rare in southern Chi- 

 na. (2) However, Manpond) states that amoebic liver abscess 

 along the coast of southern China is a very notable feature of the 

 morbidity of the country. It is rare in Great Britain, and the 

 cases met with occur most frequently in individuals who appar- 

 ently had acquired the disease in the tropics. Saundby (3) reports 

 a case of liver abscess in England, the patient never having been 

 out of that country. In northern and central Europe it is also 

 rare. Manson,(l) Davidson,(4) and Castellani and Chalmers(2) 

 agree that it is relatively common in southern Europe — in Italy, 

 Greece, the Balkan Peninsula, southern Russia, Spain, and 

 Roumania. Reports of cases in Gibraltar, Malta, and Bengal 

 leave some doubt as to whether or not they were contracted in 

 these stations. (4) In Cyprus, judging from the British colonial 

 reports, it is rare among the natives. For example, in 1903 no 

 cases occurred among 20,000 patients treated, 261 of which 

 were suffering from dysentery. 



In Japan, although outside the tropics, it is not uncommon. 

 The population of the southern hemisphere enjoys a practical 

 immunity to the disease, except the Europeans in the warm 

 northern territory of Australia and in the neighboring island 

 of New Caledonia. Corlette(5) reports 7 cases of amoebic liver 

 abscess occurring in New South Wales, the patients having 

 never been outside of Australia. In the Western Hemisphere 

 it is rare in the temperate regions, its prevalence increasing 

 toward the tropics, (i) In the West Indies it is not as common 

 as in India. 



It is endemic in the United States. Many authors claim that 

 the cases occurring in the United States were acquired in th6 

 tropics, or the intestinal amoebiasis of which liver abscess is a 

 complication can be traced as originating in the warm climates. 

 This is offset by the work or several observers. Osier informs 

 us that it is common in the Southern States. Futcher(6) 

 reported 119 cases of amoebiasis occurring in the Johns Hopkins 

 Hospital, 95 of which never had been outside of Maryland. 

 Tuttle(7) showed cases which had never been out of New York. 



