Posters

Tracking the distribution of Acanthamoeba keratitis with geographic profiling: single center results in Italy

Poster Details

First Author: M.Buzzi ITALY

Co Author(s):    U. Santosuosso   A. Antonelli   N. Ciccone   E. Favuzza   R. Mencucci        

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To assess the spreading origin and distribution of Acanthamoeba keratitis in the Italian region of Tuscany using Probabilistic Geographic Profiling and other data mining tecniques.

Setting:

Eye clinic, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health. Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine. Microbiology and Virology Unit. University of Florence, Italy

Methods:

Probabilistic Geographic Profiling is a statistical tool originally developed in criminology to prioritise large lists of suspects in cases of serial crime. It uses the spatial locations of linked crimes to identify areas that are most likely to include the offender's residence. It is currently used in conjunction with data mining and machine learning techniques. Here, we show that this novel technique could also be used to identify source populations of invasive species, using their current locations as input. Between 2017 and 2019, we evaluated 27 patients (27 eyes) with PCR positive Acanthamoeba keratitis coming from different areas of Tuscany.

Results:

Probabilistic Geographic Profiling technique can be considered an effective tool in assessing the spreading origin of invading species of Acanthamoeba in the Tuscan area. The correlation between the sources of infection, water supplies and genotype of the amoeba is under investigation. The analysis of Acanthamoeba keratitis distribution in Tuscany showed that the probable spreading center of the amoeba should be located in the coastal regions.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that Acanthamoeba keratitis presents a distinct frequency rate in specific areas of Tuscany between 2017 and 2019. This trend to clustering was observed in coastal regions, suggesting that specific water supplies in such regions may be involved in contamination.

Financial Disclosure:

None