United States: A man in Missouri has died of primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, an illness contracted after swimming with an amoeba, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported Wednesday.
The man succumbed to death on Tuesday at a hospital in the St. Louis area. The man was infected once he came in direct contact with an amoeba brain-eater.
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The infection destroys cells of the brain very fast and is fatal in most cases. Nonetheless, the infection is very uncommon.
Infectious disease specialist Christian Rojas Moreno with MU Health Care said there are billions of exposures to the amoeba annually, but those exposures only lead to the infection in 10 or fewer cases a year, as komu.com reported.
The most important risk determinant is that patients have been exposed to warm, freshwater, as they usually have in recreational water activities. The man who died had been water skiing at the Lake of the Ozarks in the days before he fell ill, said the state health department.
The health department did not specify there is any reason to avoid any body of water, but none, except that, said Rojas Moreno, the amoeba is everywhere.
“This amoeba is present pretty much everywhere, especially in warm, fresh water,” as per Rojas Moreno.
“So, it is there, especially during summertime in high temperatures. There is a risk, but it is a low risk — very low risk,” as he continued.
Brain-eating ailment: typical side effects of the brain-eating infection commence as a headache and advance, as komu.com reported.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services recommends that individuals get medical help in case they feel ill with the following symptoms after taking a swim in a warm body of water:
- Severe headache
- Fever
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stiff neck
- Seizures
- Altered mental status
- Hallucinations
The onset of symptoms lies between one and 12 days after exposure, Rojas Moreno said.
Such patients are unlikely to get checked by doctors and nurses to see whether the amoeba is causing the infection before more common causes of brain infections are ruled out, Rojas Moreno said.
Due to the rarity of the infection, the amoeba would not be checked initially unless the patient has a history of exposure to the infection in warm, fresh water.
As people can avoid exposure to warm, fresh sources of water by the body, it is possible that people can prevent the infection.