KARACHI: A young man, who was being treated for infection with Naegleria fowleri, commonly called brain-eating amoeba, died in the small hours of Friday, officials said.

He was the third victim of the deadly infection this year in the city.

The 25-year-old patient, a resident of Cattle Colony, was under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

He had reported at the hospital a day earlier with high fever, headache and mental disorientation.

The victim had no history of swimming and it appeared that he had contracted the deadly infection through water lacking adequate levels of chlorine.

Source said last year at least 10 people died of Naegleria fowleri that’s responsible for the disease called Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM).

The infection is fatal in 98 per cent of the cases.

Since 2012, according to health department officials, over 100 cases of Naegleria fowleri have been reported in Karachi. Of them, only one patient survived for three months. In another case reported in 2023, the patient recovered well.

A free-living amoeba, Naegleria, is commonly found in warm fresh water (such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs) and soil. Only its one species, Naegleria fowleri, infects people.

It infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose. This typically happens when people go swimming, diving, or when they put their heads under fresh water, like in lakes and rivers.

The amoeba then travels up the nose to the brain where it destroys the brain tissues and causes the PAM.

The first symptoms of PAM usually start about five days after infection that may include headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting. Later symptoms can include stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, seizures, hallucinations, and coma.

After symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within five days. The germ cannot survive in cool, clean and chlorinated water.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2024