Florida man dies after being infected with ‘brain-eating amoeba’ after washing his nose with tap water
A man has died in Florida as a result of the brain-eating amoebaan infection he may have contracted by washing his nostrils with tap water, as reported by the Florida Department of Health, according to Gizmodo.
As a result of this death, the state’s health department warned all residents to not to use tap water to perform this type of rinsing. As an alternative, the state health department proposes using distilled or sterile water. In the case of using tap water, it was should be boiled for at least one minute and then allowed to cool.
As reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tap water that has not been previously sterilized is dangerous. It cannot be used as a nasal rinse since it has not been properly treatedas it may contain some bacteria such as protozoa or amoebae themselves.
Regarding the amoeba that has caused this death, it is Naegleria fowleri, a unicellular living organism that is usually found in soil and in some U.S. fresh waters, such as those of lakes, rivers, hot springs, or warm tap water itself.
This is commonly referred to as ‘brain-eating amoeba’, as it usually causes some symptoms such as. brain infectionswhich usually happens when such bacteria come up through the nose, as allegedly happened in this case.
