One person has died from infection with an amoeba called “Naegleria fowleri” which attacks the brain.
- A man died because he was infected with an amoeba called “Naegleria fowleri”.
- This is a very rare but very deadly infection.
- Only four people survived of the 154 infected in the United States between 1962 and 2021.
“Naegleria fowleri“or amoeba”brain eater“…This is what killed a man in Charlotte County, Florida, USA, according to a communicated. This one was infected by this amoeba – a microscopic organism that lives in soil or relatively warm freshwater surfaces – which destroyed his brain. He died of it on Thursday March 2, while the Charlotte County Health Department had confirmed her infection in a February 23 statement..
Setting the record straight:
Infection with Naegleria fowleri is EXTREMELY RARE and can only happen when water contaminated with amoebae enters the body through the nose. You CANNOT be infected by drinking tap water. https://t.co/Arp2m5aaQz
—Florida Dept. of Health (@HealthyFla) March 3, 2023
In this tweetit is recalled that a “Naegleria fowleri infection is EXTREMELY RARE and can only occur when water contaminated with amoebas enters the body through the nose. You CANNOT get infected by drinking tap water.”
“Naegleria fowleri”: an infection of the amoeba through the nose
Typically, infections occur when people swim in hot lakes or rivers in the summer and water enters the sinuses. On the other hand, when it is swallowed, the gastric juices destroy the amoeba.
For now, an epidemiological investigation is underway to understand the circumstances of the infection that took place in the United States. Nonetheless, according to the February 23 release from the Charlotte County Department of Health, the patient was believed to have been infected while rinsing his nose.”with tap water“.
The mortality rate with this amoeba is very high
Once in the body, this amoeba causes cerebral infections which are manifested by headaches, nausea, fever, hallucinations, convulsions, coma.
Patients typically die within 18 days of an infection, according to NBC News. And the disease is very deadly: in fact, the mortality rate is over 97%, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 1962 and 2021, only four people survived out of 154 known infected people in the United States.
To avoid being contaminated, it is therefore recommended to boil the water for at least one minute and let it cool before using it. It is also necessary to avoid nasal contact with tap water or bodies of water, when swimming for example. Finally, for those who have a swimming pool, the Charlotte County Health Department recommends disinfecting them thoroughly.
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