Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis

The causative agent is Negleria Fowler , an optional human parasite. It lives in warm water with a temperature of 25 ° C to 32 ° C. During bathing, the parasite enters the nose, then into the olfactory nerve . On the nerve, the parasite reaches the brain . To avoid the disease, do not contact with dirty water, as well as bathe in it.

The first symptoms begin approximately 2-6 days after infection. This is a headache, dizziness. A person does not feel well and distinguishes smells and tastes. Then the temperature rises. More serious symptoms follow: hallucinations, ataxia , seizures resembling epileptic . After infection, it takes about 10 days to these symptoms. Then the symptoms intensify and become more frequent several times, after which death occurs. Sometimes one of the symptoms is blindness, loss of balance, poor hearing, or lack thereof. In the brain, negleria begins to eat brain cells and multiply. The maximum time to death after infection is 24 days.

Almost all cases were observed in North America , less commonly in European countries. For example, in the Czech Republic between 1962 and 1965 16 people fell ill, swimming in an outdoor pool. Cases of infection have also been recorded in the UK , New Zealand , Pakistan , India , Taiwan and other countries. If the reservoir in which the amoeba lives is drained or becomes unsuitable for its life, negleria turns into a cyst , which can be transported with the wind to other reservoirs, including those located outside the country. From person to person is not transmitted, so the disease is extremely rare even in America. Since the discovery, only a few hundred cases of infection have been diagnosed.

Most often, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis leads to death, but there is also a known case of the infected person recovering: a 5-month-old boy was cured in Iran in 2012. Although drugs to control the deposits exist, they are far from always effective.

As a prophylaxis, warm, especially untreated, ponds should be avoided, and when bathing in them - getting water in the nose. It is also not recommended to contact with dirt.

^[1] metronidazole , amphotericin B , rifampicin , fluconazole , miltefosine are used for therapy. Recent studies have shown high efficacy in the fight against Naegleria fowleri digoxin and procyclidine ^[2] , as well as chlorpromazine ^[3] .

The 20th and 21st episodes of season 2, as well as the 17th episode of season 8 of the Doctor House series, are devoted to the fight against negleria. A reference to the disease also occurs in episode 13 of season 1 of the Resident series. In chapter 5 of Aspen Mathis’s book “The Most Dangerous of the Routes,” the heroine talks about the dangers of hot reservoirs. The Russian series "Doctor Richter" also has a series about negleria. in the series, the patient dies, but a neurologist who has also become infected with negleria can be cured.

• Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis - United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis - Texas Department of Public Health Services