KARACHI: The Sindh health department on Saturday reported a fourth death in less than three weeks from Naegleria fowleri — a deadly warm water pathogen that could easily be killed with the help of proper chlorination in water.
The death toll from the infection this year has reached 12 in the city.
It’s the fourth death since Oct 24 and second within a short span of one week.
According to the health department, the latest victim was a 38-year-old man, who lived in Gulshan-i-Maymar. The patient had no history of swimming, the department added.
A health department spokesperson said that the patient was taken to a private hospital two days after he developed complaints of high fever, body aches and vomiting on Nov 7. The patient passed away on Thursday night, he added.
Earlier, three patients, all residents of district Central with no history of swimming, died of the infection over the past 18 days.
Experts have urged the general public to exercise caution in nasal rinsing.
Popularly known as ‘brain-eating amoeba’, Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba (a single-celled living organism). It is commonly found in warm fresh water (such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs) and soil.
It is responsible for the disease called Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM). The infection is fatal in 98 per cent of the cases. Proper chlorination of water is the only prevention against the illness as it kills the germ.
