Brain-eating amoeba cases spike in Kerala

The health authorities in Kerala are on alert following a spike in cases of Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare brain infection with a high fatality rate.

The state has recorded 69 confirmed cases and 19 deaths from the ailment this year. Patients range from a three-month-old infant to a 91-year-old. The infection is caused by Naegleria fowleri, a single-celled amoeba often called the “brain-eating amoeba”. This organism lives in lakes and river. Once it enters the human body through nose, it attacks the central nervous system.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George has called it a serious public health concern, saying the infection, once limited to Kozhikode and Malappuram, is now being reported from different parts of the state.

She said that unlike last year, the state is not seeing clusters linked to a single water source. “These are single, isolated cases, and this has complicated our epidemiological investigations,” George said.

The Opposition boycotted the Assembly session during the adjournment motion on amoebic meningoencephalitis, accusing the government of concealing figures.

United Democratic Front (UDF) MLA N Shamsudeen said, “There are people who have lost their lives even after they took bath in their homes.”

However, the Kerala Government rejected the UDF’s charge that it “failed” to provide a scientific explanation for the amoebic meningoencephalitis outbreak in the state, saying guidelines had been issued, giving details about the brain fever and its causes.

Health Minister Veena George said that Kerala was the first state in the country to frame guidelines on dealing with the disease. She also referred to the various steps taken by the local bodies and the Haritha Karma Mission to create awareness about the disease and how it could be prevented.

Other Opposition leaders also criticised the health machinery of the state and said that, even if it was not a communicable disease, the brain fever was spreading fast and had already been reported in various districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Malappuram, Thrissur and Palakkad.