Teen dies in Kerala: A 15-year-old boy died after being affected by a rare brain infection caused by free-living amoebae that live in contaminated waters in Kerala’s Alappuzha, state Health Minister Veena George said on Friday (July 7).
The boy who hailed from nearby Panavalli in the Alappuzha district was infected with a disease known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.
While confirming the teenager’s death, George said that five such cases of the infection were earlier reported in the state.
She said that the first case was reported in the Thirumala ward of Alappuzha in 2016 while the second and third were confirmed in Malappuram in 2019 and 2020. One each was reported in Kozhikode and Thrissur in the years 2020 and 2022 respectively, the Minister said in Thiruvananthapuram.
Symptoms of the rare infection
Fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures are some of the main symptoms of the disease.
"All the infected patients had died," George said, while stressing that there was a 100 per cent mortality rate for the rare brain infection.
The free-living amoebae, which cause the infection, are found in still water, the minister added.
According to doctors, the human brain gets infected when the free-living, non-parasitic amoeba bacteria enter the body through the nose.
Considering the severe nature of the disease, district health officials have advised people to avoid taking baths in contaminated water.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Kerala Muslim groups vow to put up legal, political 'fight' against Uniform Civil Code
ALSO READ | Plan to implement 'one nation, one culture': Kerala CM Vijayan over BJP’s UCC pitch
