Serum Antibodies to Balamuthia mandrillaris, a Free-Living Amoeba Recently Demonstrated to Cause Granulomatous Amoebic Encephalitis

Free-living amoebae cause three well-defined disease entities: a rapidly fatal primary meningoencephalitis, a chronic granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), and a chronic amoebic keratitis. GAE occurs in immunocompromised persons. Recently, another type of free-living amoeba, Balamuthia mandrillaris, has been shown to cause GAE. The finding that this amoeba has caused infection in some healthy children has raised the possibility that humans …