Brain Eating Amoeba: A 15-year-old boy in Kerala has died of a rare bacterial infection called Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM). A fatal infection of the central nervous system caused by Naegleria fowleri, better known as the brain-eating amoeba.
The teenager was being treated for the infection at the Alappuzha Medical Center. His condition was critical and it is believed that he contracted the infection after bathing in a local stream. Kerala Health Minister Veena George confirmed in an official statement that this is not the first case of PAM in the state.
A total of five cases of the rare infection had been reported before the latest. The deadly disease was first tested in 2016 in Alappuzha. After this, two more cases were reported in Malappuram in 2019 and 2020. Similar cases were reported in Kozhikode in 2020 and Thrissur in 2022.
Why is infection usually fatal? , Brain-eating amoebas that are thought to be free-living are more likely to be present in stagnant water bodies including lakes, springs, and rivers. In particular, their survival rates in brackish water are negligible, so they have been suggested to be absent in seawater.
The brain-eating amoeba enters the human body through the nose. It feeds on the brain, destroying all the tissue, eventually leading to inflammation. Cases of Naegleria fowleri infection worldwide are usually associated with swimming or bathing in water bodies.
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Health minister Veena George confirmed that the death rate from the disease in the state is 100 per cent. All the infected patients died, he said. While doing so he also highlighted the fact that this is a rare condition. It is a rare condition, and only one in ten thousand will experience it.
Veena George said the health department has taken adequate steps to s.tize the area from where the disease was reported. Earlier only five people in the state were suffering from the condition.
