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Fatal brain-eating amoeba may have come from woman's neti pot
A Seattle woman rinsed her sinuses with tap water. A year later, she died of a brain-eating amoeba. Her case is reported this week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.09.013] [DX].
The 69-year-old, whose name was not given, had a lingering sinus infection. For a month, she tried to get rid of it using a neti pot with tap water instead of using sterile water, as is recommended. Neti pots are used to pour saline into one nostril and out of the other to irrigate the sinuses, usually to fight allergies or infections.
According to the doctors who treated the woman, the non-sterile water that she used it thought to have contained Balamuthia mandrillaris, an amoeba that over the course of weeks to months can cause a very rare and almost always fatal infection in the brain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @11:24PM
It depends, and very much so.
However, giving it a try will only set you back a few bucks total and a few minutes a day, so why not?
You need clean water. If your tap is known good, there's no reason to buy expensive stuff. You do not need the special prepackaged salts that people will try to sell you, a 0.9% (roughly, don't make a science of it!) solution of table salt is enough, e.g. 9gram salt per 1liter of water. Don't use plain water, that may hurt and will make things worse.
The feeling is *very* awkward at first! That is normal. Breathe through your mouth, not your nose, and take your time. Also, don't overdo it. Once or twice a day is enough. If not, you need additional treatment by a professional.
Good luck, no matter whether you try it or not.