Authors : N.S.A. Latiff, A. Jali, N.A. Azmi, I. Ithoi, W.Y.W. Sulaiman and N. Yusuf
Abstract: Many reports have been documented on the benefits of hot Spring water as balneotherapy. However, despite being one of the choices for medical purpose, many not know that hot Spring water is also a major threat to human as it is also a habitat for pathogenic microorganisms. Two of microorganisms that can live in thermal water are Acanthamoeba and Naegleria and they are capable to cause human diseases. Humans are naturally exposed to these Free Living Amoeba (FLA) when they come in contact with bodies of water as they are common in the environment. This study was conducted to detect the presence of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria and their correlation with the physical parameters of water in five selected hot Springs in Selangor and also to determine growth capability of these organisms at 28, 37 and 44°C. A total of 52 water samples were collected from all studied hot Springs and the results showed that 38 out of 52 (76%) water samples collected from all the studied hot Springs were positive for Acanthamoeba and Naegleria with Sungai Serai hot Spring recorded the highest (100%) followed by Hulu Tamu hot Spring (91.7%), Dusun Tua hot Spring (75%), Selayang hot Spring (62.5%) and Kuala Kubu Bharu hot Spring was the lowest (37.5%). A total of 52 water samples were cultivated in 312 culture plates and incubated at 28, 37 and 44°C. Out of 312 plates cultured, 104 plates were recorded positive with 96 plates contained mixture of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria, 5 plates were positive with Acanthamoeba only and 3 plates were positive with Naegleria only. Out of these 104 positive plates, the highest number (52 out of 104) were detected at 37°C followed by 28°C (44 out of 104) and 44°C (8 out of 104). Several species of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria were isolated from water samples based on their morphology, size and locomotion. Only water turbidity parameter showed significant correlation with the occurrence of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria in studied hot Springs (p<0.01) (r = 0.765). This is the first study to detect the presence of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria from hot Springs water in Malaysia. High percentage of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria showed that people who come in contact with hot Springs water bodies are highly exposed to infections.
N.S.A. Latiff, A. Jali, N.A. Azmi, I. Ithoi, W.Y.W. Sulaiman and N. Yusuf, 2018. The Occurrence of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria from Recreational Water of Selected Hot Springs in Selangor, Malaysia. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 13: 21-24.