Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled amoeba, commonly found in warm fresh water.
The "brain-eating amoeba," Naegleria fowleri, has been linked to the death of a patient, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, marking the first case of the fatal condition in South Korea.
Here are five points on the deadly brain-eating amoeba infection:
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health agency of the United States, Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba (single-celled living organism) that lives in soil and warm fresh water, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs.
- It is commonly called the "brain-eating amoeba" because it can cause a brain infection when water containing the ameba goes up the nose. Only about three people in the United States get infected each year, but these infections are usually fatal.
- Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a brain infection that damages brain tissue, is brought on by Naegleria fowleri. As a result of the infection's destruction of brain tissue, the brain swells. Early PAM signs and symptoms could resemble those of bacterial meningitis.
- Although they might emerge anywhere between 1 and 12 days after infection, the initial PAM symptoms typically appear approximately 5 days later. Headache, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting are possible symptoms. Seizures, hallucinations, seizures, stiff neck, confusion, and coma are some of the most severe symptoms that can develop later.
- After symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about 5 days (but death can happen within 1 to 18 days). The death rate is over 97%. Only four people have survived out of 154 known infected individuals in the United States from 1962 to 2021.
