Fatality rate 97%: What is brain-eating amoeba and why Kerala is on high alert

Representative image

Four cases of rare brain infection, amoebic meningoencephalitis, have been reported in the Kerala since May and all the patients are children, three of whom have already died. In the latest case, doctors said the child's condition is improving as the infection was identified quickly at the hospital and treatment, including medicines from abroad, was given immediately.

According to the Texas Department of Health Services in the US, fatality rate of this infection is over 97%. This means these infections are fatal and 97% of the patients don't survive.
What medical experts suggest:

• Don't take bath in unclean waterbodies.
• Infection occurs when free-living, non-parasitic amoebae bacteria enter the body through the nose from contaminated water.
• There should be proper chlorination of swimming pools and children should be careful when entering waterbodies.
• Use nose clips while inside swimming pool.

According to a Kerala health department notification, Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba found in warm freshwater environments such as lakes, ponds, and rivers, causes Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM). In rare cases, it can also inhabit poorly maintained swimming pools.

The notification explains that this single-celled organism, often referred to as the ‘brain-eating amoeba’, can infect the brain and destroy its tissues.

While infections are rare, they are usually fatal, with a survival rate of only 3 percent. The infection typically occurs when individuals swim in lakes, ponds, or rivers during the summer.

The amoeba enters the body through the nose, travels to the brain, and causes tissue destruction and swelling.

The infection is not contagious, and swallowing water containing the amoeba does not lead to infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States reports that early symptoms of PAM include headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting. The condition can progress quickly, resulting in later symptoms such as stiff neck, confusion, loss of focus and balance, as well as hallucinations. According to the CDC, PAM usually causes a coma and death within five days, with the majority of victims dying between one and 18 days.

The infection was first detected in the Alappuzha municipality in 2016. It later surfaced in Malappuram in 2019 and 2020, Kozhikode in 2020, Thrissur in 2022, and Alappuzha again in 2023.