Jordan Smelski died after a vacation in Costa Rica from an infection with Naegleria fowleri – a single-celled amoeba that enters the brain through the nasal cavity and destroys tissue. His father Steve told the BBC how the boy first developed headaches after just one dip in a hot spring, then began hallucinating, and died seven and a half days later. The disease, primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), is fatal in 97 percent of cases.
Worldwide, only 488 cases were recorded between 1962 and 2023, but last year alone, the Indian state of Kerala reported over 200 infections – the largest documented outbreak. The amoeba, which previously occurred mainly in the southern United States, Pakistan, and Australia, is now being detected in cooler regions: in Italy, Belgium, Slovakia, and northern US states like Minnesota. Researchers attribute the spread to rising water temperatures due to climate change.
Children are particularly at risk because they are more likely to inhale water through their noses while playing and have a shorter pathway between the nasal cavity and the brain. ‘It’s like a nightmare, a horror movie, or a Stephen King novel,’ Professor Ian Wright from the University of Western Sydney told the BBC. ‘The probability of getting infected is very low – but if it happens, you will most likely die.’
The outbreak in Kerala, however, offers cautious optimism: more than half of those infected there survived, attributed to earlier diagnoses and better treatment protocols. Results from a study in the journal Communications Medicine suggest the infection may no longer be as hopeless as previously thought. Still, experts emphasize that case numbers will rise worldwide – and advise vigilance, not panic.
Source: www.bbc.com
