Today, there is a fear of a dangerous disease in society,
Which is called “Naegleria fowleri”. It is clear about this disease that it is not caused by viruses and bacteria, the germ that causes it is called Amoeba. It is different from viruses and bacteria and affects humans.
What is Naegleria? This amoeba grows in clean fresh and warm water. It cannot grow in brackish and salty water and even if chlorine or any other disinfectant solution is added to fresh water, it cannot grow. There are other types of it, but only the Fowleri type affects humans.
When people bath in water contaminated with Naegleria or Fowleri, it goes into the throat through the nose and the smell cells in the nose are directly connected to the brain.
And thus it goes through our nose to the brain. As soon as it reaches the brain, it increases its number and starts eating our brain and its membranes as food.
The disease that it causes by eating our brain as a result of this process is called PAM in the medical field. The total duration of this entire process can be from one to two weeks.
That is, from the time Naegleria enters our nose and proves fatal. In addition to bathing in ponds, lakes and swimming pools, Naegleria can also be contracted from the fresh water that comes into our homes through taps. It can also be contracted from this, such as pouring water into the nose during ablution and bathing.
The severity and harmfulness of this disease is very high and it proves fatal in almost all patients.
It is almost impossible to cure;
but it can be prevented by taking precautions and better awareness. The mortality rate of the patient from this disease is 95%. An important and encouraging thing is that it is eliminated by water infected with the throat and nose of a person, but it remains there and does not infect the brain of the affected person, and this has been shown by research that it does not reach the brain even after staying in the nose and throat of some people.
The second important thing is that;
it affects very few people in society, as we have seen in many other diseases whose proportion is very high in society. The third important thing is that it is not transmitted by breathing, air, or sitting together and drinking water from an infected person.
Prevention of Naegleria;
.Proper use of chlorine in underground domestic water tanks.
.When performing ablution and bathing, forcefully withdraw it after pouring water.
.Avoid bathing in water parks.
.Always boil water and drink it.
.Use saltwater and seawater instead of clean water in water parks, and if you are using clean water, be sure to use chlorine or other disinfectant solutions.
Symptoms;
The symptoms of this disease are exactly like meningitis, which include headache, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, and finally unconsciousness.
Medications are available to treat this disease, but when symptoms appear, a lot of time has passed and diagnosis also takes some time. Treatment begins only after diagnosis. By that time, the severity of the disease has increased. That is why the death rate in this disease is so high.
