Health dept. issues alert against amoebic meningoencephalitis in Kozhikode

The Health department in Kozhikode, Kerala, has issued an alert against primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) in the district in view of the reporting of three cases of the infection and a death here in recent days.

District Medical Officer K.K. Rajaram said in a release on Monday that though the mortality of the this rare brain infection was very high, it would not transmit from person to person. PAM is caused by Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba. People get infected when they swim or take a bath in stagnant waters. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and reaches the brain. Children could be more vulnerable as their cribriform plate, which separates the nasal cavity and the skull, has more porous openings compared with the adults. Another route of the infection is through the eardrum.

Dr. Rajaram said that symptoms such as severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, and light sensitivity would appear within five to 10 days of the amoeba entering the brain. Children may also refuse to have food, will not go out to play, and generally prefer to lay on the bed without moving their body. Fading memory, epilepsy, and fainting are indications of the infection getting severe. Those who seek medical treatment for fever need to inform the doctor if they had ever taken bath in ponds or stagnant waterbodies.

Health department officials suggested that swimming and bathing in stagnant or unhygienic water sources need to be avoided and nose clips could be used while swimming. Those who have undergone surgeries on their nose and ears should not venture into the waters. Wells, ponds, swimming pools, including those in water theme parks, need to be chlorinated at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, a three-month-old child and a 40-year-old man, who have been undergoing treatment for PAM at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, continue to be in the intensive care unit. Presence of the amoeba has been reportedly detected in a water source next to the child’s house. Awareness activities are being undertaken in Thamarassery where a nine-year-old child died due to the infection recently.