A Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills a Woman and the Suspect Is Her Neti Pot
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Neti pots are small, portable devices designed to rinse sinuses for flushing out congestion. They’re very effective for treating sinus infections and are widely used. However, in a recent event, a woman died from using a neti pot. According to NBC news, a 69-year-old woman from Seattle reportedly died from a brain-eating Amoeba because of using her neti pot.
According to the reports, the woman was using the neti pot for about a month to rinse out her sinuses. She developed a rare rash on her nose, but her dermatologist termed it as a skin condition and gave her a medicine. The rash didn’t get any better from the medicine.
After some time, the woman started having seizures. When she was taken to the hospital, her brain was examined by a surgeon. There were several tests performed that came out to be positive for Balamuthia mandrillaris, which causes a serious infection in the brain and spinal cord. An entire portion of her brain had been infected and disintegrated by the amoeba. Her condition started deteriorating and despite the fact that she was given a heavy dose of anti-amoebic drugs, her condition didn’t improve. She went into a coma and was eventually taken off life support by her family.
The doctors were confused at first as to how the woman contracted this infection. That particular type of amoeba is found only in soil and fresh water. It can enter the body through an open cut or wound, but there’s no other way. They discovered that the woman used tap water instead of sterile water in her neti pot, contrary to the directions given. Although the tap water she used was from a Brita water purifier, it is always recommended to use sterile or distilled water for nasal irrigation through a neti pot. Sterile or distilled water is more effective because it reduces the risk of these kinds of infections.
Filtered or boiled water is safe to drink, but it can be dangerous when it goes through the nasal passage. The first sign of the infection was a rash on the nose, which doctors mistook as rosacea, a common skin condition. The woman succumbed to this infection after one year of this consistent rash.