'Brain-Eating' Amoeba causes death in United States
Body's flight against the infection causes swelling in the skull, finally leading to patient's death
KANSAS: (Web Desk - Dunya News) - Nine-year-old kid named Hally Yust died in Kansas earlier this month of a rare disease in which Amoeba eats up the brain of the infected person. The youngster caught the Amoeba from water while he was swimming near his home.
The Amoeba organism that caused the death is named as ‘Naegleria fowleri’ which is normally found in warm waters. However, community swimming pools are generally considered free from it because water is generally clean in such pools but they are highly likely to dwell in lakes and rivers or any impure water reservoir.
97 out of every 100 who get this infection die as a result because there is hardly any cure of the disease if it does not get caught immediately. However, in most cases people do not consult doctors because initial symptoms of the infection are general sort of diseases including vomiting, nausea, headache and stiff-neck. Neck stiffness, however, is quite particular with this infection as the area around spinal cord gets swelling and muscles get stiffed due to this swelling around the spinal cord.
Disease gets into human body through nose and then moves up to the brainmaking its way through Olfactory Nerve that connects the nose with the brain. A very small amount of liquid can carry the disease. Later the Naegleria moves further into the brain eating up the brain tissue. This may cause delirium, seizures and hallucinations because the brain starts to get infected with the disease. Olfactory Nerve is taken next by the infection which makes the infected person lose his power to plan or systematize anything.
But after this stage there is no pattern or method in the madness as any and every part of the brain can get infected by the disease afterwards. As the inflammation continues, brain sends the immune cells to cope with the infection but that inflames the surrounding area. It is this inflammation that causes the death of the patient for it creates immense pressure on the skull causing swelling in the brain. The pressure is created due to this immune system’s fight with the infection. Finally the brain goes on to meet the spinal cord due to extreme pressure in the skull and most patients die due to this reason. The infection takes less than two weeks to kill an infected body.
The disease is rare but the number is increasing in the United States for the last few years. Most cases surfaced in Texas, Florida and other Southern states which are generally warmer but now a few have occurred even in northern state of Minnesota making the doctors ponder about the speed at which the disease is making itself habitable in colder waters as well. Though only 34 cases have been reported during the last ten years in the United States, the rising number can speed further up in the days to come, if not coped with in an effective manner.
