Last Updated: July 07, 2023, 21:24 IST
It is caused by a free-living amoebae which are found in still water.(Credits: AFP)
Till now, 5 cases of the rare brain disease have been recorded, and all the infected patients have died making its mortality rate at 100 per cent.
A teenager died after he was infected by a rare brain infection caused by free-living amoebae in contaminated waters of Kerala’s Alappuzha district.
State Health Minister Veena George on Friday said that the victim was a 15-year-old native of Panavalli and the disease that killed him is called “primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.”
Till now, five of these cases have been reported from Kerala, George added.
“All the infected patients had died and the mortality rate of this infection was 100 per cent,” George said.
After this, the health officials have advised people to avoid taking baths in the contaminated water of the district.
What is this rare brain disease?
The main symptoms of the primary amoebic meningoencephalitis are fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures.
It is caused by a free-living amoebae which are found in still water.
The free-living, non-parasitic amoeba bacteria enters the body through the nose and infects the human brain, according to doctors.
Cases in Kerala
The first was reported in Thirumala ward of Alappuzha in 2016.
Two cases were confirmed in Malappuram in 2019 and 2020 and one each was reported in Kozhikode and Thrissur in the years 2020 and 22 respectively.
With PTI inputs
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