Skull injuries can make people vulnerable to amoebic fever, say doctors

Skull injuries could be among the factors making people vulnerable to the rare and fatal amoebic meningoencephalitis in Kerala.

According to sources, one of the infected persons who died recently at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea or leakage of the cerebrospinal fluid through the nose, which is caused by skull injuries. This could have happened due to road accidents or any other reasons, say doctors.

It is learnt that a few of the other patients under treatment at the Kozhikode MCH at present too have CSF rhinorrhoea.

The infection-causing amoebae such as Naegleria fowleri typically enters the brain through cribriform plate, a sieve-like structure of the ethmoid bone between the skull and the nasal cavity.

Doctors say that any tear in this area could lead to CSF leak, which may be mistaken as a symptom for cold as the patient will have a running nose. Headache, nausea, vomiting, losing the sense of smell and altered consciousness are some of the other symptoms.

However, patients may not have other symptoms of cold such as sneezing or cough. Those with CSF rhinorrhoea are vulnerable to bacterial meningitis as well. Doctors say this condition can be corrected through surgery.

The sources say that one of the infected persons under treatment reportedly had taken bath in a waterbody in Chennai. After he experienced severe headache, fever and altered sensorium in the following days, he was shifted to a private hospital there. Treatment subsequently began for encephalitis or inflammation of the brain. Amoebic meningoencephalitis was confirmed later after he was admitted to the Kozhikode MCH, they say.