SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Brain-eating amoeba: Warning issued in Florida after rare infection case:
A case of a rare brain-eating amoeba has been confirmed in Florida, according to health officials in the US state.
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) said one person in Hillsborough County had contracted Naegleria fowleri.
The microscopic, single-celled amoeba can cause an infection of the brain, and is usually fatal.
Commonly found in warm freshwater, the amoeba enters the body through the nose.
The DOH did not outline where the infection was contracted, or the patient's condition. The amoeba cannot be passed from person to person.
Infections are typically seen in southern US states. They are rare in Florida, where only 37 cases have been reported since 1962.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Brain-Eating Amoeba: Warning Issued in Florida after Rare Infection Case
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 35 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Nadia Comaneci, simple perfection.
-- '76 Olympics
(Score: 3, Informative) by Lagg on Monday July 06 2020, @07:59PM (19 children)
Forgive my smartass subject. First and last reference of its kind I promise.
I honestly had no clue Florida had a literal brain bug problem but now I'm wondering if there's a futurama episode I need to rewatch. Anyway, this does explain a lot of things. We need to test vast swathes of my old stomping grounds and vast swathes of the midwest extending down just above texas until El Paso.
Hehehehe
On a serious note though: This thing seems a hell of a lot harder to catch than our current problems. Article states that you have to come rather close to full on "body flop and get water forced up your nose" type irrigation. Like those teardrop-shaped things people clean their nose with by forcing water through and making weird throat noises. Or crashing bad on an intertube. Stuff like that. Explains relatively low rate. Especially since with the nose thingies you're supposed to use warm water and a disinfectant mixture or something.
Yes I tried the nose things firsthand. I regret it and accidentally waterboarded myself 2-3 times in a row and then gave up.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 06 2020, @08:18PM (14 children)
These things crop up in warm weather in the Southern states - usually among fishermen who go wading with open sores below the waterline, standing in fresh water for hours like that. Another good method for amoeba insertion into the brain is high diving into same warm lakes (water gets blasted past the eyeballs directly into the sinuses - mere millimeters from the brain) - one might say that the amoebas are anorexics, trying to eat such meager portions.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @08:29PM
Hey now, if they could read and 've read what you just posted, they'd be very upset with you...
(Score: 5, Informative) by Freeman on Monday July 06 2020, @08:59PM (12 children)
From the Summary:
Someone recently got it by doing nose rinses from their tap water.
https://www.healthline.com/health/sinus-flush#how-to [healthline.com]
Okay, not so recently, as I'm pretty sure this is the incident I remember: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/12/07/neti-pot-tap-water-caused-womans-deadly-brain-infection-report/2236681002/ [usatoday.com]
She apparently had been using filtered tap water. Always make sure you're using Sterile Water, not just filtered water. Brain eating amoebas are no joke.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Monday July 06 2020, @09:11PM (10 children)
I got curious about the neti pots again so decided to do some googling. I was all geared up for "this is quack junk that can only hurt you", but I actually found some support for it. The consensus appears to be that under certain conditions it can be beneficial. Only use it for short terms though. Don't do it twice a day for a year because there's a study that shows that's harmful.
As always, talk to your doctor about it, not random yoga practitioners and people on the Internet--including me.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @09:27PM (2 children)
I won't dispute what you said, but when that neti pot story broke, I looked into that specific story. From what I recall, the story was more akin to the woman saying she used a neti pot six months prior, and since they couldn't think of any other way it could have happened, suddenly the stories were "woman gets brain-eating amoeba from using neti pot!!!!" and lots and lots of good juicy clicks from that clickbait.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 06 2020, @09:35PM
It's entirely possible, she was skinny dipping one night with her lover and neglected to inform her doctor of said event. Though, I wouldn't be too surprised if it was from the filtered tap water.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Monday July 06 2020, @11:01PM
I got curious, so I looked it up. Her first clear symptom happened a year after she used a neti pot as instructed by he doctor (for a chronic sinus infection). That seems like an unlikely incubation period.
A case from 2013 seems more likely. It was traced to a contaminated water system.
I find that nasal irrigation can help during allergy season. I boil and cool the water first. I just use a juice glass and snort.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 06 2020, @09:31PM (4 children)
Yeah, the news report on the lady that died from it said her doctor prescribed it. It's not crazy, but definitely talk to your doctor and follow the directions. Filtered Water is not necessarily Sterile Water. Best to either buy a solution or follow the directions for properly sterilizing water.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 06 2020, @10:20PM (3 children)
Distilled water is what you're sposed to use. Unless the container it's being put in is contaminated, you're guaranteed it's sterile with about as much certainty as you can get.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by istartedi on Monday July 06 2020, @11:06PM (1 child)
Most of the sources I read said saline solution. It's probably the same stuff you use for contact lenses which is also supposed to be sterile.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2020, @06:55PM
Salt and warm water is what we singers use.
And you don't see too many Rock singers with brain dam-
Forget it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2020, @06:34PM
uh, i think it's spelled "spozeta"?
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Monday July 06 2020, @10:21PM (1 child)
Everything you and freeman just said indicate to me I waterboarded myself with salt water. Multiple times. Using a device (mine was a blue teardrop made of rubber but neti pot is a hilarious name) that ultimately doesn't do much more than blowing your nose after a shower.
Ah well, now I know what water-tentacles feel like. That's gotta have some value as an experience.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday July 07 2020, @08:31PM
Blue teardrop made of rubber? Sounds exactly like an earwax irrigation bulb. You're not supposed to squirt the water into your nose.
A neti pot looks a lot like a small teapot. You're supposed to tilt your head sideways and pour it in one nostril and it drains out the other one. My ex and the kid used one a few years ago, said it helped some, but YMMV.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 06 2020, @11:54PM
Those filters can (obviously) do more harm than good... stagnant pools of breeding space - and carbon to neutralize the chlorine and ammonia.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday July 06 2020, @09:33PM (3 children)
According to Wikipedia 145 people have been infected with this thing, so it's obviously not that easy to catch.
On the downside, 141 of them died. I can't imagine it being a pleasant death either.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 06 2020, @09:54PM (2 children)
Wow, that is a very high death ratio. I would have assumed it to be way less than that. Thankfully, it is indeed a pretty rare infection.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday July 06 2020, @10:18PM (1 child)
Yes. If you get it you're probably going to die.
The CDC don't offer much hope either. There is a drug which may or may not help, they're not really sure.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 06 2020, @11:56PM
If you get it and know you have it, you're probably going to die. During that same period that 141 people died, 141,000 or more people had one or more of these amoeba inside their bodies, it just didn't turn into a full blown infection. CDC may not have anything to fight off an infection out of control, but your body fights off millions of microbes that get into places they shouldn't be every day.
🌻🌻 [google.com]