The Kerala Health Department has asked people to exercise caution against amoebic meningoencephalitis and avoid bathing in pools of stagnant water, which is where the 'brain-eating amoeba' reside. Published: June 28, 2024 11:30 PM IST By A 12-year-old boy from Kozhikode has been tested positive for amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare brain infection caused by a ‘brain-eating amoeba’ which is found in contaminated waters. This is the third case to emerge in Kerala since May this year, days after a 13-year-old girl died from the fatal infection in Kannur.
According to doctors at the Baby Memorial Hospital where the boy is being treated, the 12-year-old had bathed in a pond near his house where he likely got infected by the free-living amoeba which is known to reside in contaminated water bodies. A senior doctor involved in the boy’s treatment said the infection was identified and the treatment commenced on the same day. “We identified the infection in tests done at our labs and informed the DMO who took preventive measures by closing down access to the pond where the child had bathed,” the doctor said.
Doctors said the boy’s samples sent for testing to a lab in Puducherry from where the printed PCR report is awaited officially confirming the infection, adding that the boy remains in a critical condition as the infection has a mortality rate 95-100 percent. However, they said that although it is a rare disease, there are protocols in place to deal with such cases and.
