Brain eating amoeba in watera man dies in Florida.
It happened last week when a man allegedly contracted the primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM)caused by the Naegleria fowlerimaking a rinsing of the paranasal sinuses with unfiltered and contaminated tap water. In fact, to contract the disease, it is not enough just to drink tap water: as explained by the spokesman for Florida Department of Health, Jae Williams“to contract this disease you have to push hard the water through the nose, is a very strange way of contracting it”. To be more certain, however, we will have to wait for the outcome of the autopsy exam.
But what is it Naegleria fowleriso-called brain eating amoeba, which causes such a lethal disease? It’s a protistsaffine a an amoeba, causing primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (also known as naegleriasis), an acute, fulminant infection affecting the central nervous system. It is found in fresh and warm water environments, such as lakes and rivers, but also in thermal springs, in the discharge of hot water from industrial plants and in geothermal drinking water sources, as well as in tap water or in swimming pools with poor maintenance.
Brain eating amoeba manages to attack the central nervous system if the nasal septa come into contact with contaminated water. In most cases the diagnosis of the disease comes late, which is why the mortality caused by primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is quite high. The infection can progress rapidly and cause death within ten days. In recent years, cases of infection with Naegleria fowleri are becoming more frequent due to climate change.