Alappuzha: A 15-year-old boy suffering from a rare brain disease, caused by free-living amoebae living in contaminated waters, has succumbed to the disease in the coastal district of Alappuzha.
The youth, a native of Panavally, was suffering infected with the fatal Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare condition that primarily affects the brain and the central nervous system caused by Naegleria fowleri. He succumbed to the condition at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) here.
The deceased, son of Mayithara Anil Kumar and Shalini, from Panavally in Cherthala taluk, was admitted to the intensive care unit earlier this week in critical condition. His health deteriorated and breathed his last on Thursday night.
The teenager was also reported to have contracted leptospirosis.
Commonly known as ‘brain-eating amoeba’, the fatal disease was earlier reported in Alappuzha municipality in 2016.
According to experts, the free-living amoeba having a presence in freshwater such as rivers, ponds, and lakes, enters the body through the nose. It destroys the brain tissue and causes swelling of the brain. Most Naegleria fowleri infections reported around the world have been linked to bathing and swimming in water bodies.
The symptoms of the disease include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, altered mental status, seizures, hallucinations, and so on. The Health department has advised people to avoid taking baths in contaminated water.
“The human brain gets infected when the free-living, non-parasite amoebae bacteria enter the body through the nose. The illness is caused in three different ways. One way it can spread is through contaminated water,” a health official told Onmanorama.
No cause to worry: Health Minister Veena George
Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George sought to allay fears over the spread of the disease.
“It’s a rare condition, and only one in ten thousand will contact it. The Health Department has taken adequate measures to sanitize the area from where the disease was reported. Before this, only five persons in the state suffered from the condition,” she said in an official communication.
Previous instances
In 2016, a child in Tirumala ward of Alappuzha district was infected with the disease. Two cases were reported in 2019 and 2020 in Malappuram and one in Kozhikode in 2020. Another person in Thrissur contracted the illness in 2022, the release said.
Boy bathed in ponds
The boy who succumbed to the condition had bathed in ponds near his house in Panavally, which the experts suspect to have resulted in the condition. He started suffering from a fever on June 29 and had nausea, vomiting, and headache two days later. He was admitted to the Turavur Taluk Hospital and shifted to the ICU of the MCH after his condition worsened a week ago.
While initial tests turned positive for the rare brain disease, samples have been sent to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, for further investigation.
