Louisiana health officials have issued a warning Friday to residents about nonsterilized tap water after at least two people, one in De Soto Parish and the other in New Orleans, died after exposing their brains to a deadly, water-borne, brain-eating amoeba while flushing their nasal passages. Since autopsies are not regularly performed anymore, the actual number of deaths caused by this infection is unknown.
Louisiana health officials are warning residents not to use nonsterilized tap water in the small teapot-shaped containers called neti pots after two people died from exposing their brains to the brain-eating Naegleria fowleri, a lethal amoeba, while flushing out their nasal passages according to CNN Friday.
The initial step of infection can also occur "when diving or inadvertently aspirating water during swimming," advises Medicine Net. "Rarely, under-chlorinated swimming pools have been implicated in transmission."
This summer, at least three people died from the infection, one being a Florida youth thought to have contracted while swimming in a river.
In another case in Louisiana, health officials found the amoeba in the home's water system used for showering. Dr. Raoult Ratard, Louisiana's state epidemiologist, said the problem was confined to the man's house and not found in city water samples.
The amoeba kills 95% of people exposed to it according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Symptoms of Naegleria fowleri are similar to bacterial meningitis including: vomiting, headaches and sleepiness.
"As it progresses, it can cause changes in a person’s behavior and lead to confusion and hallucinations states CDC.
Waterborne disease and outbreak surveillance coordinator at the CDC, Dr. Jonathan Yoder said this summer, "It's a tragic infection. It's right at the frontal lobe. It affects behavior and the core of who they are -- their emotions, their ability to reason -- it's very difficult."
"It usually causes death within one to 12 days, according to the CDC."
"The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals issued its warning after a 51-year-old woman in DeSoto Parish died after rinsing her sinuses with a neti pot, a small vessel used to pour warm water into one nostril and out the other. Earlier this year, a 20-year-old man near New Orleans died after contracting the infection in the same way.
Southerners are more at risk for the infection due to the warmer water being more conducive to growth of the amoeba.
CDC asserts, "You cannot be infected with Naegleria fowleri by drinking contaminated water" and "Naegleria fowleri is not found in salt water, like the ocean."
It cannot be spread from one person to another.
Medicine Net answers a frequently asked question, "When do infections most commonly occur?"
The organism is "most active in summer months, even in the southern states."
"Most cases occur in previously healthy young males (median age of 12 years)."
This summer, the infection killed two others in the South, one being a 16-year old Floridian female youth.
The youth's mother, P.J. Nash-Ryder said, "She would sit up in bed and just look at me, and I would ask her what was wrong. She would say, 'I don't know.' And I'd tell her to lay back down. Her eyes were rolling ... and she wouldn't shut them all the way."
CNN reported, "The amoeba could have entered the teen's body as the teen swam in a nearby river."
"Lurking in fresh waters during the summertime, they're more likely to infect humans in July, August and September."
CDC says there are "several drugs that are effective against Naegleria fowleri in the laboratory", but their "effectiveness is unclear since almost all infections have been fatal, even when people were treated."
Since autopsies are not regularly performed anymore, it is unknown what the actual number of deaths by the brain-eating disease is.
Pathologists and public health officials say that far-reaching consequences for U.S. health care of minuscule autopsy rates has not been appreciated according to Pro Publica Thursday following its death in America investigation.
“Much of what we know about medicine comes from the autopsy,” said Dr. Stephen Cina, chairman of the forensic pathology committee for College of American Pathologists.
“You really can’t say for sure what went on or didn’t go on without the autopsy as a quality assurance tool.”
CDC's tips for prevention are:
* Refrain from activities in warm, untreated or poorly treated water, especially when water levels are low and temperatures are high.
* Hold the nose shut or use nose clips when swimming in warm fresh water.
* Avoid digging or stirring up underwater sediments while submerged in shallow, warm freshwater areas.
Last week, Louisiana's Dr. Ratard urged neti-pot users to fill the pots only with distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water, and rinse and dry them after each use.
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