Cleaning your nose with tap water can be fatal. Explanations.
- Researchers warn in a new study on nose rinsing.
- When made with tap water, it can trigger life-threatening infections.
- To rinse your nose, “the safest way is to use boiled, sterile or filtered water. If this is not possible, disinfect the water with chlorine,” say the scientists.
Researchers warn in a new study on nose rinsing: when done with tap water, it can cause death.
People who use unsterilized tap water can in fact contract an infection via amoebae. Amoebae are single-celled living things classified in the large group of protozoa. Amoeba species such as Naegleria fowleri and Acanthamoeba are widespread in soil and many water sources.
Rinsing your nose can lead to deadly infections
When scientists examined 10 patients with Acanthamoeba infection, they found that they were all immunocompromised. All participants had also rinsed their noses before infection, and at least half of them had used tap water to do so.
Although they could not say with certainty that nasal rinsing was the cause of the infections, the researchers believe that the amoeba may well have been transmitted by this means. As a result, scientists are calling for greater caution when rinsing noses, especially when done by people with weakened immune systems.
How to rinse your nose without risk to your health?
“It is safest to use boiled, sterile or filtered water. If this is not possible, disinfect the water with chlorine,” they indicate in a press release.
According to a study carried out in 2023 among the American population, 62% of the 1,004 people questioned thought that tap water could be used for nasal rinsing, even if it was not sterile.
Naegleria fowleri infections are rare but the mortality rate from the disease is greater than 97%. The same goes for Acanthamoeba infections, which also lead to death in 82% of cases.
How do you know if you are infected after rinsing your nose?
Nearly 90% of carriers have no symptoms. “In a small number of infected people, however, the parasite can penetrate the lining of the colon. indicates the Pasteur Institute. “Amoebiasis can also cause mild diarrhea to painful, bloody diarrhea (dysentery with blood and mucus in the stool). Destruction of the intestinal wall can subsequently lead to the formation of ulcers.” adds the research center.
When the parasite manages to gain access to the bloodstream, it can infect the liver and give rise to abscesses which, if left untreated, lead to a fatal outcome. The disease can also progress to other local complications, such as abscesses in the lungs and, much more rarely, in the brain.
