(WJW) A Texas woman has died after contracting a rare infection from a brain-eating amoeba while using tap water to clear out her sinuses at an RV campground, according to a recent report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the death investigation in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report last Thursday, stating that the patient was an otherwise healthy 71-year-old.
According to the report, she started experiencing serious symptoms like a fever, headache and “altered mental status” within four days of using a nasal irrigation device filled with tap water.
The woman received medical treatment for the suspected primary amebic meningoencephalitis infection, but according to the report, she started having seizures and died eight days after the symptoms started.
Through an investigation, the CDC confirmed Naegleria fowleri was found in the woman’s cerebrospinal fluid.
According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as the “brain-eating amoeba,” is a one-celled organism that lives in freshwater lakes, rivers and hot springs.
“If water containing the ameba goes up the nose and to the brain, it can cause an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM),” the CDC said. “Typically, fewer than 10 people a year in the United States get PAM. Nearly everyone who gets PAM dies from it.”
According to medical records, between 1962 and 2023, the United States reported 164 cases of PAM. Of those cases, only four patients survived.
The Texas Department of State Health Services determined that the woman did not have recreational exposure to fresh water, but she reportedly used nonboiled water taken from an RV water system for nasal irrigation “on several occasions.”
The CDC urges the public to take the following precautions to avoid getting the dangerous infection:
- Hold your nose or wear a nose clip if you are jumping or diving into fresh water.
- Always keep your head above water in hot springs.
- Don’t dig in shallow water because the amoeba is more likely to live there.
- Use distilled or boiled tap water when rinsing your sinuses or cleansing your nasal passages.
Learn more about the death investigation here.
