How common is the "brain-eating amoeba"?
2:09
(CNN) --
A person in Charlotte County, Florida has died after becoming infected with the rare brain-eating amoeba
Naegleria fowleri
.
The infection possibly resulted from "sinus flushing practices with tap water," according to a news release from the Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County.
The statement was issued in February to alert the public to the infection.
What is the brain-eating amoeba, how can you get infected and what do you need to know?
On Thursday, the department confirmed to CNN that the infected person died and authorities continue to investigate the case.
"There is an ongoing epidemiological investigation to understand the unique circumstances of this infection. I can confirm that the infection unfortunately resulted in a death, and any additional information regarding this case is confidential to protect patient privacy," said Jae Williams, press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, in an emailed statement Thursday.
Infection with
Naegleria fowleri
"can only occur when amoeba-contaminated water enters the body through the nose," the department's news release said.
The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County advised residents to use only distilled or sterile water when preparing nasal rinse solutions.
Tap water should be boiled for at least a minute and cooled before using it to rinse the sinuses, which usually involves a neti pot.
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Tap water that has not been sterilized is not safe to use as a nasal rinse, as it is not properly filtered or treated, and therefore may contain low levels of microorganisms, such as bacteria and protozoa, including amoebas, the website warns. from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
However, people do not become infected if they drink tap water, since stomach acid usually kills these organisms.
Naegleria
fowleri
is an amoeba, a single-celled living organism, that can be found in soil and warm freshwater, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs throughout the United States.
Commonly called "brain-eating amoeba," it can cause brain infections, which usually occurs when water containing amoeba rises up the nose, such as from swimming.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about three people in the United States are infected each year, and these infections are often fatal.
From 1962 to 2021, only four of 154 people in the country survived a brain-eating amoeba infection, according to the CDC.
Just last year, a child who became infected after swimming in Lake Mead died, another in Nebraska who became infected after swimming and a Missouri resident who became infected after visiting a beach in Iowa.
Signs and symptoms of infection are initially severe headaches, fever, nausea, and vomiting, and may progress to a stiff neck, seizures, hallucinations, and coma.
The infection is treated with a combination of drugs, including the antibiotic azithromycin, the antifungal fluconazole, the antimicrobial drug miltefosine, and the corticosteroid dexamethasone.
Florida Brain-Eating Amoeba
