Medicine at Zero Kilometer
This Wednesday, Professor Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Irccs Ospedale San Martino in Genoa, full professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Genoa and director of the specialization school in Infectious Diseases at the same university, will conclude the meeting on “Medicine at Zero Kilometer”. In this session, we tackled a topic that is rarely discussed, specifically a rare infection, usually lethal, which has already caused some deaths and deserves attention.
The brain infection caused by amoebas, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, is due to Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba.
It is called this because, swimming in warm, contaminated fresh waters, amoebas can enter through the airways, the nose, or the ears, and reach the brain. There, they progress and proliferate rapidly. Initially, when they reach the brain, the amoebas cause inflammation ‒ which begins within 1/2 weeks of exposure to contaminated waters ‒ followed by the destruction of tissues.
One of the first symptoms is alteration of smell or taste, followed by headache, neck stiffness, nausea, and vomiting. The infection can progress rapidly, leading to confusion, and eventually death within a few days.
To verify the presence of the amoebas, doctors must perform a lumbar puncture, a biopsy. Treatment is difficult because there is usually not much time left for the patient’s survival from the suspicion to the confirmation of the disease.
Professor Bassetti explained in the video within this article that amoebas do not need humans or animals to survive.
In Italy, we have not yet had any cases. Recent events are known from Israel, Canada, and in the past, Africa. Keeping vigilance high is not a bad thing, especially with the current temperatures, as these protozoa thrive in poorly chlorinated waters, such as pools, or in wells, thermal springs, industrial discharges, and they prefer to live in those beautiful ponds or rivers in tropical countries where people go on vacation and may be tempted to take a nice swim.
Amoebas, however, cannot survive in salt water. For this reason, it is recommended to wear at least nose plugs and, above all, as the professor firmly stated, to not perform nasal rinses with well water. There are specific products for these practices that are safe.
Updated on July 24, 2024, at 1:19 PM