L’brain eating amoeba killed a man residing in Florida, USA. Charlotte Health Agency officials said the victim may have had nasal washes with tap water contaminated with the microorganism. Naegleria fowleriresponsible for the lethal infection.
It is a microorganism that rarely strikes, but usually kills when it does: Every year, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Cdc) US there are only zero to five cases of infections in the country. But the mortality rate of the microorganism turns out to be more than 97%: only 4 out of 154 infected between 1962 and 2021 survived in the United States.
“Basically, to get this disease you have to force water through your nose, it’s a very strange way to get it,” said the Florida Department of Health spokesperson. Jae Williams “It’s common in fresh water, especially stagnant water that warms up in the sun.”
Brain eating amoeba symptoms
Naegleria fowleri has been nicknamed “brain-eating amoeba” due to its ability to trace the fibers of the olfactory nerve up to the brain. Once at its destination, it begins to reproduce rapidly, feeding on the cerebral nervous tissue.
The infection – acute and fulminant – can initially cause symptoms such as cerebral edema, fever, nausea, vomiting. In the advanced stage, stiff neck, disturbances in attention, convulsions, hallucinations and even coma can also occur. The disease progresses rapidly, and if it is not diagnosed and treated quickly it leads to death within a week.
Cures and treatments
Naegleria fowleri – according to reports from Humanitas – is sensitive to the antifungal drug amphotericin B, used in almost all cases in which the infection has been defeated. Extensive analyzes have shown that this active ingredient alters the membranes of the pathogen, including those of the nucleus and the smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum.
However, the drug does not always achieve the desired effect: experts are looking for new drugs, in the hope of identifying some that are not only more effective, but also associated with fewer side effects.
Brain-eating amoeba in Italy
In Italy, only one case of death attributable to Naegleria fowleri has been recorded to date: it happened in 2004 in Este, in the province of Padua, where a 9-year-old boy contracted the infection after swimming in a pond that took water from the river Po. in a particularly hot summer.