Provincial health department of Sindh reports three deaths caused by brain-eating amoeba in Karachi

KARACHI: At least three Karachi residents have died from Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba, in the first two weeks of July, a spokesperson of the health department in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said on Saturday, adding two of these deaths occurred this week.
Naegleria fowleri is found in freshwater sources like lakes, ponds, rivers, hot springs and poorly managed swimming pools and pipes connected to tap water. The micro-organism enters the human body through the nose and causes a sudden infection of the brain called naegleriasis.
In most cases, the infection is fatal.
It’s a relatively new problem in Pakistan. The first case of Naegleria fowleri infection was reported in Karachi in 2008. Since then, over a hundred people have died from the infection, with all three Karachi cases this year occurring in July.
“The latest deaths have occurred on Thursday,” said Ali Nawaz Channa, spokesperson for Sindh health department, while speaking to Arab News. “A 35-year-old died in Aga Khan Hospital while a 22-year-old garment factory worker died in Jinnah Hospital.”
The family of the latter was quoted in a health department report as saying that he visited a nearby swimming pool with friends last Sunday. Subsequently, he developed a fever on Monday and was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. His condition deteriorated on Thursday and was put on ventilator support but could not survive.
The other patient was admitted to Aga Khan Hospital and died after “ten days of battle with high grade fever,” the official report added. The family suspects the infection was contracted from performing ablution at a nearby mosque.
Prior to them, another patient, a resident of Qur’angi area of the city, died last Friday, according to the health department.
A 2021 Sindh health department study conducted in 50 Union Councils of Karachi found that 95 percent of the water samples were completely unfit for human consumption, which experts believe is one of the major reasons behind the spread of the brain-eating amoeba.
Primary amebic meningoencephalitis, the brain infection caused by the amoeba, has common symptoms including extreme headache, changes in taste, high fever, sensitivity to light, nausea and vomiting.
Symptoms occur within 24 hours of infection, but since they resemble meningitis, the infection is rarely diagnosed early enough through a blood test.
Medical experts warn late treatment is not always effective.