KARACHI: The Sindh health department has announced that a man and woman have succumbed to Naegleria, a deadly brain infection, in Karachi last week.
According to the health department spokesperson, a woman, a resident of Qayyumabad, was brought to the Jinnah Hospital in critical condition, where tests found out she was suffering from Naegleria, an infection caused by brain-eating amoeba. She expired during treatment.
They said her condition had deteriorated at a private hospital in the Gulshan area of Karachi, she was earlier admitted to.
Similarly, he said, a 45-year-old man, a resident of Surjani Town, also died of the deadly viral infection on May 26.
Experts apprehend the disease has started taking toll on humans with the advent of sizzling summer, urging measures on part of the health authorities to curb the spread of virus that could be eliminated through chlorination of public water supply, that was lacking in most of the city areas.
Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba that lives in soil and warm fresh water, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is commonly called the “brain-eating ameba” because it can cause a brain infection when water containing the ameba goes up the nose.
Chlorination is the key method to kill the germ and keep the fatal disease at bay.
The virus can also be avoided by using boiled water for cleaning the nasal cavity that is the entry point of the virus into the human body.
