Brain-eating amoeba kills woman using tap water to clear sinuses in TX, CDC says
.jpg "A woman died in Texas from a brain-eating ameba after using tap water in a sinus rinse, the CDC said.")
A woman died after contracting a rare brain infection from using tap water to clear sinuses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 71-year-old woman was at a campground in Texas when she used tap water in a nasal rinse to clear her sinuses, the CDC said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published May 29.
The woman, who was otherwise healthy, developed “severe neurologic symptoms, including fever, headache, and altered mental status,” within four days, according to the report.
She was treated for primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare brain infection that’s often fatal. It’s caused by the free-living ameba, Naegleria fowleri, the report said.
Eight days later, the woman died. Lab results showed the presence of Naegleria fowleri in her cerebrospinal fluid.
Naegleria fowleri, also known as a brain-eating ameba, is a “one-celled organism that thrives in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, and hot springs,” the CDC says.
CDC officials said the woman performed the nasal rinse several times with non-boiled water in her RV from two different water sources; one from a portable tank that had been filled with water months prior, and the other from the municipal water system which was connected by a hose and water filter.
It’s unclear which water source caused the infection.
Although it is rare, there have been cases reported of people dying from using a nasal rinse with tap water.
The CDC said you should use distilled, sterile or boiled and cooled water to rinse.
