The Kerala Health Department has asked people to exercise caution against amoebic meningoencephalitis and avoid bathing in pools of stagnant water, which is where the ‘brain-eating amoeba’ reside.
A 12-year-old boy from Kozhikode has been tested positive for amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare brain infection caused by a ‘brain-eating amoeba’ which is found in contaminated waters. This is the third case to emerge in Kerala since May this year, days after a 13-year-old girl died from the fatal infection in Kannur.
According to doctors at the Baby Memorial Hospital where the boy is being treated, the 12-year-old had bathed in a pond near his house where he likely got infected by the free-living amoeba which is known to reside in contaminated water bodies.
A senior doctor involved in the boy’s treatment said the infection was identified and the treatment commenced on the same day.
“We identified the infection in tests done at our labs and informed the DMO who took preventive measures by closing down access to the pond where the child had bathed,” the doctor said.
Doctors said the boy’s samples sent for testing to a lab in Puducherry from where the printed PCR report is awaited officially confirming the infection, adding that the boy remains in a critical condition as the infection has a mortality rate 95-100 percent.
However, they said that although it is a rare disease, there are protocols in place to deal with such cases and treatment is started immediately once diagnosed.
This is the third case of the near fatal infection reported from the southern state since May this year.
A five-year-old girl from Malappuram was the first victim of the rare disease and died on May 21. A month later, a 13-year-old from Kannur also fell prey to the deadly infection and died on June 25.
Medical experts say the infection is caused when free-living, non-parasitic amoebae bacteria enter the body through the nose from contaminated water.
On Thursday, the Kerala Health Department asked people to exercise caution against amoebic meningoencephalitis and avoid bathing in pools of stagnant water, which is where the amoebae reside.
“Bathing in stagnant water and diving in water should be avoided as much as possible as this disease has been reported in Kerala. Water in theme parks and swimming pools should be properly chlorinated to ensure that it is clean,” it had said.
The disease was earlier reported in coastal Alappuzha district in the state in 2023 and 2017.
The main symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures.