Boy Dies Due to Rare Brain Infection in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 15-year-old boy has died of a rare brain infection, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, in Alappuzha district of Kerala.

The boy was undergoing treatment at the government medical college hospital in Alappuzha where he succumbed to the deadly infection the other day. According to health department officials, the boy had developed fever a week ago following which he took treatment at a local clinic.

But with his condition deteriorating, the teenager was shifted to the Alappuzha medical college hospital where he was diagnosed with the brain eating infection.

The boy used to take bath in a small pond near his home and health officials suspect that he might have contracted the infection from the stagnant water body.

Naegleria fowleri or brain-eating amoeba

Infection with Naegleria causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis which results in inflammation in the brain and destruction of brain tissue. The symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, seizures, altered mental state, sleeplessness or drowsiness, loss of balance, severe and sudden headache, stiff neck.

No need to panic: Kerala health minister

Kerala health minister Veena George said there is no need to panic since the disease does not spread from human to human.

Bathing in contaminated water and washing the face and mouth with unclean water should be avoided completely as it can lead to the disease.

She said the disease is very rare as only one in tens of thousands of people get affected by the infection. The health department is taking adequate preventive measures in the affected area. she said.

Five persons have died due to infection in Kerala since 2016

Earlier, five people in the state were infected with the disease and all succumbed to the infection.

The rare brain infection was first reported in a child in 2016 in Alappuzha district. Similar cases were reported in Malappuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur in 2019, 2020 and 2022 respectively. The mortality rate of this disease is close to 100 per cent.

The minister said Kerala has been able to effectively contain the disease because of  early detection and preventive measures.

Health experts say the amoeba, which lives freely in water without its parasite nature, is commonly found in water bodies where there is no flow.

By bathing in a water or pond, amoeba pathogens enter the human body through the thin skin of the nose, severely affecting the brain, which can lead to encephalitis.