Latest death from amoeba found in water bodies
A 50-year-old Korean national died 10 days after showing signs of the rare yet fatal infection from Naegleria fowleri or “brain-eating amoeba”, according to The Korea Times.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the man stayed in Thailand for four months before entering South Korea on December 10. He passed away on December 21. Here is everything you need to know about the signs and symptoms of this rare yet fatal infection.
How Naegleria fowleri infects the brain
Naegleria fowleri is a species of Naegleria, a free-living amoeba commonly found in warm fresh water sources – such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs – as well as soil.
It can infect humans when water containing the organism goes up the nose. This can cause a brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). According to the US CDC, the infection can destroy your brain tissues.
Since the recent death in South Korea, officials have asked people to not swim in neighborhoods where the infection has broken out.
Symptoms associated with the deadly infection
As per the report, the South Korean man suffered from headaches, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and slurred speech.
According to the US CDC, the first signs of PAM start showing within 1-12 days after the person gets infected. Apart from the above-mentioned symptoms, other signs include nausea and fever in later stages, followed by seizures, hallucinations, and even coma in later stages.
The infection spreads rapidly and can cause death within about five days on an average.
Out of the 154 known infected individuals in the United States from 1962 to 2021, only four people have survived , the CDC notes.
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Case study of a rare survivor of PAM
Sebastian Deleon, now 22, is one of four known survivors of the deadly infection with Naegleria fowleri.
Six years after his near-death experience, Deleon told Click Orlando about his symptoms and treatment when he was hospitalized after swimming in a pond near his home in Florida. He was 16 back then.
More about the unusual headache
CBS News reported in 2016 that Deleon experienced an extremely severe headache, so much so that he could not tolerate people touching him.
"This headache was different. It felt more like — the description that I kept saying at the hospital was that it felt like there was a smooth rock on top of my head, and someone was pushing it down," Deleon later told Click Orlando.
"It felt like I was in one of those roller coasters spinning around and around and around, and I had to wear sunglasses, and the sun wasn't even out," he added.
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Cure and treatment that helped Deleon’s recovery
As soon as the doctors spotted the amoeba on a spinal tap, they reached out to a pharmaceutical company called Profounda, which is the sole US distributor of Impavido, a drug that has shown promise in treating PAM.
They then put Deleon in a medically-induced coma to slow the infection and give the medication a chance to work. After about 72 hours in coma, Deleon was able to breathe on his own and spoke within hours of having his breathing tube removed.
Deleon made it to the list of survivors, but the recovery was still a long road ahead.
The first two years were the hardest. Due to swelling in his brain, he had lost most of his motor skills. He went to a rehabilitation center where he learned how to walk, write, and perform basic tasks again. He has since made a full recovery.
Brain eating amoeba in india
Naegleria fowleri has so far been found in all continents and declared as the cause of PAM in over 16 countries, including India.
A 2015 study published in the journal PLos ONE reported on the presence of Naegleria spp. in various water bodies present in Rohtak and Jhajjar district, of state Haryana, India.