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Alappuzha: A Class X student lost his life in Kerala’s Alappuzha district after Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as the “brain-eating amoeba” entered his body.
The teenager, who was hospitalised since Sunday, breathed his last on Friday, his kin told the media.
The victim Gurudath (15), son of Alappuzha’s Poochakkal natives Shalini and Anil Kumar is believed to have been infected by the brain-eating amoeba when he took a swim at a local brook.
Naegleria is a free-living amoeba — a single-celled living organism. It is commonly found in warm freshwater (such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs) and soil. Only one species of Naegleria infects people and they are called Naegleria fowleri.
Once Naegleria fowleri enters the human body, it causes meningoencephalitis (PAM) which leads to the victim’s death. The disease was reported before in Alappuzha in 2017, Malayala Manorama said in a report.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose. This typically happens when people go swimming, diving, or when they put their heads underwater, like in lakes and rivers. However, people cannot be infected by drinking contaminated water.
The amoeba then travels up the nose to the brain, where it destroys the brain tissue and causes a devastating infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). PAM is almost always fatal.
The first symptoms of PAM usually start about 5 days after infection, but they can start within 1 to 12 days. Symptoms may include headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting. Later symptoms can include a stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, seizures, hallucinations, and coma.
After symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about 5 days. Some patients may survive up to 18 days, CDC stated.
