A 15-year-old boy in Kerala’s Alappuzha district has died due to a rare infection caused by Naegleria fowleri or “brain-eating amoeba” after a week of high fever and rapid deterioration in his vitals.
Key points
- Amoeba is known to thrive in any natural environment, particularly in warm water habitats. However, it doesn’t survive in saline conditions and is hence not found in sea water.
- It survives on bacteria found in the sediment in lakes and rivers.
- Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as “brain-eating amoeba,” is a single-cell organism found in a warm freshwater environment such as lakes, hot springs and even in poorly maintained swimming pools.
- It is so small that it can only be seen with a microscope.
- Only one species of Naegleria, Naegleria fowleri, infects people.
- Naegleria fowleri has existed for a long time in nature but cases of infection are extremely rare.
- In December 2022, a 50-year-old South Korean man and in March, a man in Florida succumbed to the infection.
- The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain, leading to a severe and usually fatal brain infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).
