Naegleria fowleri infection

By

Relevance: 'Brain-eating amoeba' naegleria fowleri kills South Korea man - The Hindustan Times

Naegleria is a free-living ameba (a single-celled living organism). It is so small that it can only be seen with a microscope. It is commonly found in warm fresh water (such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs) and soil. Only one species of Naegleria infects people: Naegleria fowleri.

Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose. This typically happens when people go swimming, diving, or when they put their heads under fresh water, like in lakes and rivers. The ameba then travels up the nose to the brain, where it destroys the brain tissue and causes a devastating infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). PAM is almost always fatal.

Naegleria fowleri infections may also happen when people use contaminated tap water to cleanse their noses during religious practices or rinse their sinuses (sending water up the nose).

In very rare instances, people have gotten Naegleria fowleri infections from recreational water that didn’t have enough chlorine in it, such as pools, splash pads, or surf parks.

There is no evidence that Naegleria fowleri can spread through water vapor or aerosol droplets (such as shower mist or vapor from a humidifier).

People cannot be infected with Naegleria fowleri by drinking contaminated water.


Naegleria fowleri causes PAM, a brain infection that destroys brain tissue. In its early stages, symptoms of PAM may be similar to symptoms of bacterial meningitis.


The first symptoms of PAM usually start about 5 days after infection, but they can start within 1 to 12 days. Symptoms may include headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting. Later symptoms can include stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, seizures, hallucinations, and coma. After symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about 5 days (but death can happen within 1 to 18 days).


Because PAM is so rare, and because the infection progresses so quickly, effective treatments have been challenging to identify. There is some evidence that certain drugs may be effective, but we are still learning about the best drugs to treat these infections. Currently, PAM is treated with a combination of drugs, often including amphotericin B, azithromycin, fluconazole, rifampin, miltefosine, and dexamethasone. These drugs are used because they are thought to be effective against Naegleria fowleri and have been used to treat patients who survived. Miltefosine is the newest of these drugs. It has been shown to kill Naegleria fowleri in the laboratory and has been used to treat three survivors.


CDC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Russian parliament passed a bill to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

By
Relevance:  Russia revokes ratification of nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT) - ICAN But it affirmed that it will  retain its cooperation with the treaty’s verification system and implementing organisation.  Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which opened for signature in 1996, was intended to prohibit all nuclear weapon test explosions. Over 2,000 nuclear tests occurred between 1945 and 1996: the United States (1,000+), the Soviet Union (700+), France (200+), the United Kingdom and China (45 each). As at January 2013, 183 countries had signed the Treaty, of which 158 have also ratified it, including three of the nuclear weapon states (France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom). However, 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries must sign and ratify before the CTBT can enter into force. Of these, eight are still missing: China, Egypt, India , Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the US. India , North Korea and Pakista...
Read more

Interstellar space and Interstellar Probes ( Voyager and New Horizons Missions )

By
Interstellar Space: Interstellar space is often called the space between the stars, but more specifically, it’s the region between our Sun’s heliosphere and the astrospheres of other stars. Our heliosphere is a vast bubble of plasma – a gas of charged particles – that spews out of the Sun. This outflow is known as the solar wind. The bubble surrounds the Sun and stretches beyond the planets. Both Voyager spacecraft had to travel more than 11 billion miles (17 billion kilometers) from the Sun in order to cross the edge of the heliosphere. This bubble is moving through interstellar space as the Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy. As our heliosphere plows through space, it creates a bow wave, like the wave formed by the bow of a ship. Kuiper Belt &  Oort Cloud: The Kuiper Belt is a doughnut-shaped ring of icy objects around the Sun, extending just beyond the orbit of Neptune from about 30 to 55 AU. Similar to the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt is a region of leftovers f...
Read more

ISRO developing semi-cryogenic engine working on LOX Kerosene propellant

By
ISRO is developing a 2000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine working on an LOX Kerosene propellant combination for enhancing the payload capability of LVM3 and for future launch vehicles. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is the lead centre for the development of semi-cryogenic propulsion systems with the support of other launch vehicle centres of ISRO. The assembly and testing of the propulsion modules were done at the ISRO propulsion complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri. As part of the engine development, a pre-burner ignition test article, which is a full complement of the engine power head system excluding the turbopumps is realized. The first ignition trial was conducted successfully on May 2, 2024, at semi cryo integrated engine test facility (SIET) at IPRC, Mahendragiri, which was dedicated to the nation recently by the honorable Prime Minister of India. Smooth and sustained ignition of the preburner is demonstrated which is vital for the starting of the semi-cryogenic engine. Semi-c...
Read more