2024-07-09 02:19:33
Caution is required as a series of deaths caused by parasites with the terrifying nickname of ‘brain-eating amoeba’ are occurring.
According to the Israeli daily Times of Israel, a 26-year-old man infected with the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri last week died on the 7th. This is the second case of death from the brain-eating amoeba in Israel.
He most likely came into contact with the amoeba while swimming in northern Israel. He was admitted to the hospital on the 2nd and showed symptoms including fever, headache and vomiting.
Earlier, on the 4th, a 14-year-old boy in India fell victim to a brain-eating amoeba. According to multiple Indian media outlets, the boy is believed to have come into contact with the parasite while swimming in a pond in Kozhikode, Kerala. The brain-eating amoeba enters the human body through the nose. The boy was admitted to a local hospital on the 24th of last month and received intensive care, but his symptoms worsened and he died.
In the region, three people have died from the brain-eating amoeba in the past two weeks. A five-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl died from the same cause on May 21 and June 25, respectively. Including the Israeli youth, the death toll in the past two months has reached four.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Naegleria fowleri is a type of free-living amoeba that prefers warm environments. It is found in freshwater and soil, including lakes, rivers, and hot springs around the world, and can even live in poorly maintained swimming pools.
It causes primary amoebic meningitis in humans and laboratory animals, resulting in death.
There have been about 400 cases reported worldwide so far, so the risk of infection is not high. Most cases are caused by swimming. It is especially dangerous in summer when the water temperature rises significantly.
When swimming or engaging in leisure activities in lakes or rivers, Naegleria fowleri enters the nose and travels to the brain along the olfactory nerve. Infection can occur when contaminated water is poured into a nasal irrigator, which is widely used to treat rhinitis. In fact, last year, a citizen in Florida, USA, died after being infected with a brain-eating amoeba after irrigating his nose with tap water.
Human-to-human transmission is known to be impossible.
The incubation period after infection is as short as 2-3 days and as long as 7-15 days. Initially, headache, mental confusion, loss of smell, and upper respiratory symptoms appear, and then gradually severe headache, fever, vomiting, and neck stiffness that makes it impossible to bend the head forward follow, and coma and death occur. The probability of death within a week of the onset of initial symptoms is 97%.
Due to the effects of global warming, our country may not be a safe zone either.
The first Korean death occurred in 2022. However, the infection occurred in Thailand, not Korea.
Reporter Park Hae-sik, Donga.com [email protected]
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2024-07-09 02:19:33