Karachi: A fatal disease Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) caused by Naegleria Fowleri, also known as the ‘Brain-eating’ amoeba, has so far taken precious lives of as many as ten people in Karachi since May this year. It’s spreading speedily in the city due to the unawareness about it among the people.
Before it was reported in Pakistan, the deadly parasite emerged in 1965 in Australia. Naegleria is found worldwide in moist soil, fresh water ponds, lakes and swimming pools. It is a heat loving bacteria and reproduce during the temperate and tropical climates. It is usually acquired through diving in to pools and ponds.
It enters the body via the nasal cavity and reaches the brain through olfactory nerves and spread in no time, death is certain within a couple of weeks, if not treated well.
How We Get Affected By The Disease?
The people become victim of the deadly parasite after they wash their noses using tap water.
It hugely affects while swimming in pools and ponds, rinsing mouth, brushing teeth, cleaning nose with tap water.
Symptoms:
Change in Taste and smell (early symptoms) followed by fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, lethargy, increase somnolence, seizures, stiff-neck, etc.
Precautions:
Use boiled, sterilized or filtered water, especially when brushing teeth, gargling, or cleaning the nasal area during ablution.
Furthermore, avoid swimming in the unregulated pools or puddles of rain water.
The government must also launch an awareness campaign about the disease to advise people to take necessary precautions without inciting undue panic among the public.