More deaths linked to brain-eating amoeba in tap water

Deaths from primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) continues to show up since last we posted about it in this blog in December 2011, Neti Pot Deaths Linked to Brain-Eating Amoeba in Tap Water. A new article in foxnews.com/health reports two new victims, a 28-year-old many and a 51-year-old woman from different parts of Louisiana after using neti pots filled with tap water to irrigate their sinuses.

Water samples taken from the victims’ homes tested positive for Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri), a climate-sensitive amoeba found in warm freshwater lakes and rivers. N. fowleri has over a 99 percent fatality rate, with only one known survivor in the U.S. since 1962.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are reminding consumers to use boiled, distilled or filtered water using neti pots or other nasal rinsing devices.

The FDA said in a released statement:

Some tap water contains low levels of organisms, such as bacteria and protozoa, including amoebas, which may be safe to swallow because stomach acid kills them,” the FDA said in a released statement. “But these ‘bugs’ can stay alive in nasal passages and cause potentially serious infections.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/23/health-officials-link-brain-eating-amoeba-deaths-to-tap-water/#ixzz24tUDmn5b

María

María de la Torre
Founder and Executive Director

A Public Charity
www.meboresearch.org
www.brasil.meboresearch.org
maria.delatorre@meboresearch.org
MEBO's Blog (English)
El Blog de MEBO (español)
MEBO Brasil - Blog (Portuguese)

---

SUPPORT THE MEBO MISSION: Click Amazon button at right sidebar of this blog when shopping online for the holidays
at no extra cost to you.
MEBO gets small commission from Amazon.

Please use your credit card to make your donation to MEBO.

Subscribe for latest posts : Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

---

A EURORDIS and NORD Member Organization