Kerala: Unique 'Brain-eating Amoeba' claims life of a 15-year old in Alappuzha | Oneindia News
Kerala: Unique 'Brain-eating Amoeba' claims life of a 15-year old in Alappuzha | Oneindia News

A 15-year-old boy in Kerala’s Alappuzha district has died due to a rare infection caused by a “brain-eating amoeba” after a week of high fever and rapid deterioration in his vitals.

The amoeba most likely came from him taking a bath in a nearby stream.

This incident is not the first of its kind in the world.

Last December, a 50-year-old South Korean man and in March this year, a man in Florida had succumbed to the infection from the same class of amoeba.

The Brain-eating amoeba...or Naegleria is an amoeba… a single-celled organism…, and only one of its species, called ‘Naegleria fowleri’, can infect humans.

It was first discovered in Australia in 1965 and is commonly found in soil and in warm freshwater bodies, such as hot springs, rivers and lakes.

It is also found in Water that is geothermal …such as hot springs, Industrial or power plants that usually discharge warm water.

However, this species of amoeba IS NOT found in oceanic water!

#Keralateenbraineatingamoeba #Braineatingamoeba #Naegleria fowleri# ~PR.153~ED.103~HT.96~