Background and Aim : Identical symptoms of coronavirus disease-۱۹ (Covid-۱۹) with infectiousand non-infectious disease have become challenging issue for health professions. In the presentstudy, we describe a human case of amoebic dysentery mimicking
SARS−CoV-۲ infection in Iranwith an emphasis on morphological and molecular diagnostic aspects of E. histolytica parasite.Methods : A ۳۲-year-old woman with a history of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and mild fever of۳۸°C was diagnosed as
Covid-۱۹ with no prescription of real-time RT-PCR as standardconfirmatory laboratory tests. The patient’s fresh stool sample was transferred to the Departmentof Medical Parasitology at Tehran University of Medical Sciences for parasitological diagnosissuch as direct microscopy and trichrome stain. Also, for molecular diagnosis, total DNA wasextracted using a stool DNA extraction kit (Yekta Tajhiz Azma, Iran) and followed by a nested-PCR assay for detection of Entamoeba genus with species-specific primers. Moreover, the PCRproduct of the ۱۸S rRNA gene related to the current sample was purified and sequenced using theSanger sequencing method on an ABI PrismTM ۳۷۳۰ Genetic Analyzer by the MacrogenCompany (Macrogen® Corp., Seoul, South Korea). The sequence chromatogram was observedusing Chromas Version ۱.۰, and nucleotide sequences were edited using BioEdit, version ۷.۰.۵,and examined using the phylogenetic program MEGA X. To different phylogenetic analysis forthe Entamoeba complex (E. histolytica, E. moshkovskii, and E. dispar) we selected the Neighbor-Joining method (NJ) using Kimura ۲-parameter models in MEGA X.Results : Not only were hematophagous trophozoites of E. histolytica observed in the trichromestainedslides using a light microscope (Zeiss, Germany), but also PCR and subsequent sequencingconfirmed the diagnosis. The sequence was submitted to GenBank under the accession numberusing BankIt - NCBI - NIH (GenBank Acc. No: MW۶۵۹۱۹۱). The current sequence was ۹۹-۱۰۰%identical to the available GenBank sequences for E. histolytica isolated from
Iran and other regionsof the world. Also, Treatment was completed with antiparasitic drugs including oral Metronidazole۵۰۰ mg, ۳ times/day for ten days, and oral Iodoquinol ۶۵۰ mg ۳ times/day for twenty days.Conclusion : By continuing the
Covid-۱۹ pandemic, clinicians must be vigilant in all aspects ofdiagnosis, treatment, and management of patients to prevent any medical errors and misdiagnosis.