Naegleria:
Naegleria is an amoeba which is usually found in freshwater lakes, hot water, lake, or river. Not all types of amoeba are dangerous only Naegleria fowleri causes infection.
Where it is found?
The amoeba causes mind eating bacteria named as Naegleria is a rare and fatal brain infection. We commonly find amoeba in freshwater, rivers, hot springs, and lakes. Exposure occurs in water sports or swimming pools.
How it occurs?
Naegleria enters the body through the nose and then it travels to mind and causes damage. It didn’t affect by drinking contaminated water. The people affected by naegleria bacteria die within a week.
Each year millions of people have affected bt mind eating bacteria which causes naegleria, but a handful of them ever get sick from it. Health officials are trying to know why only a few people develop naegleria infection.
In which temperature it causes infection?
Naegleria fowleri is a heat-loving amoeba. It grows best at a higher temperature up to 46 degrees C. We don’t found it in cold water. Mostly, we found amoeba in warm freshwater, lakes, or rivers.
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Symptoms:
Naegleria infection causes a disease named as primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Moreover, primary amebic meningoencephalitis causes the destruction of brain tissue and brain inflammation.
At the beginning of exposure to the amoeba, signs and symptoms of naegleria may include:
- Fever.
- Sudden and severe headache.
- Change in the sense of smell or taste.
- Sensitivity to light.
- Stiff neck.
- Confusion.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Sleepiness.
- loss of balance.
- Hallucination.
- Seizures.
After initial symptoms, processes of diseases speed up and within a week (1-12 days) it leads to death.
Time to see a doctor
If you have recently been in fresh or warm water and after that, you feel fever, headache, vomiting or any other sign, then its time to see the doctor.
Causes:
Naegleria fowleri amoeba causes Naegleria infection which is commonly found in freshwater usually in summers. Sometimes amoeba found in soil. Furthermore, amoeba enters your body through the nose via dust or water and travels to your brain through the nerves that transmit the sense of smell.
Millions of people exposed to Naegleria but only a few of them get sick from it. We don’t know its reason yet but trying to know about it.
It didn’t spread from person to person. Properly cleaned and disinfected swimming pools do not contain Naegleria bacteria.
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Risk Factors:
Millions of people are exposed to naegleria bacteria in the united states each year., but few of them get sick from it. From 2007 to 2018 only 45 infections were reported.
Factors that might increase risk:
The following factors might increase the risk of naegleria infection.
1. Freshwater swimming:
Most people who got affected by amoeba have been swimming in the freshwater lake within the last few days.
2. Heat Waves:
Amoeba lives in hot and warm water.
3. Age:
Adults and children are mostly affected by amoeba because they stay longer and are more active in the water.
Precautions:
Some precautions may help us from naegleria infection and the CDC suggests the following measures to reduce the risk of naegleria:
- Wear nose clips or hold your nose shut when you go swimming in rivers or in warm freshwater lakes.
- Avoid warm bodies of freshwater.
- Try to use properly cleaned swimming pools.
- Never ignore fever, severe headache, or nausea, etc.
- Don’t swim in rivers and warm freshwater lakes.
- Try to avoid sediment while swimming.
