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Start free with EleplanAmoebiasis due to free-living amoebae
ORPHA:68Disease
What it is
A rare parasitic disease caused by free-living amoebae belonging to the Acanthamoeba, Naegleria and Balamuthia genera, that are able to survive in an autonomous state in all natural environments and can also parasitize humans. In immunosuppressed individuals Acanthamoeba genus contamination leads to granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (also reported in association with species of the Balamuthia genus) together with other problems including cardiac, cutaneous and pulmonary manifestations, all of which influence the prognosis. In immunocompetent individuals, the Naegleria fowleri species is responsible for primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, the evolution of which is rapidly fatal.
Key facts
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 100 000 (Europe)
- Age of onset
- All ages
- Inheritance
- Not applicable
- Classified as
- Disease
Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.
Signs and symptoms
Common30–79%
13Sometimes5–29%
32- Abducens palsy
- Abnormal basal ganglia morphology
- Abnormal brainstem MRI signal intensity
- Abnormal cerebellum morphology
- Abnormal cerebral white matter morphology
- Abnormal cranial nerve physiology
- Abnormal hypothalamus morphology
- Abnormality of midbrain morphology
and 24 more in this range
Rare1–4%
23- Abnormality of taste sensation
- Abnormality of the adrenal glands
- Arrhythmia
- Ataxia
- Blindness
- Coma
- Conjunctival hyperemia
- Corneal perforation
and 15 more in this range
These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.
ICD-10 codes
Related health topics
Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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