A 14-year-old boy from India who was infected with the brain-eating amoeba survived, causing concern in the global arena. While 97 percent of those infected with the deadly amoeba seen worldwide lose their lives, 14-year-old Afnan Jasim from India achieved a miracle by surviving. Jasim managed to recover from the deadly disease by receiving treatment in time after his father came across a campaign about the disease on social media.
The amoeba type called Naegleria fowleri is mostly found in fresh water sources such as lakes and rivers. This type of amoeba enters the body through the nose and then moves to the brain, and people who are infected usually die within a week. The amoeba, which is transmitted only through the nasal passage, reaches the brain by passing through the perforated part in the skull and causes fluid formation in the brain tissue by emitting different chemicals. Most patients die due to the pressure and damage caused by these fluids in the brain tissue.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1971 and 2023, only eight people who contracted the disease in Australia, the US, Mexico and Pakistan survived. Afnan Jasim is one of those few. In all of these cases, the disease was diagnosed between nine hours and five days after symptoms appeared.
Some of the symptoms of the disease are headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, disorientation, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations. While there have been approximately 400 cases of PAM in the world since 1965, experts emphasize that people should keep their mouths out of the water surface, especially in swimming pools, not dive and that it is very important to chlorinate water sources in order to protect themselves from this type of amoeba.
News: Cansel Celik
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