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Texas woman dies from brain-eating amoeba after cleaning sinuses with tap water (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 4 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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The woman contracted a fatal infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba and died eight days after developing symptoms.

A Texas woman died from an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba days after she cleaned her sinuses using tap water, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case report.

The woman, an otherwise healthy 71-year-old, developed "severe neurologic symptoms," including fever, headache and an altered mental status, four days after she filled a nasal irrigation device with tap water from her RV's water system at a Texas campsite, the CDC report said.

She was treated for primary amebic meningoencephalitis — a brain infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, often referred to as the "brain-eating amoeba." Despite treatment, the woman experienced seizures and died from the infection eight days after she developed symptoms, the agency said.

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[–] ptz@dubvee.org 34 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

In most if not all places, the municipal tap water is perfectly safe (old lead service lines, neglected areas, and occasional local boil-water advisories notwithstanding). Private wells are another matter, but there's often little regulation on those, but there is lots of guidance available.

N. Fowelri requires something like 30 times the standard chlorine dose to kill. In municipal water systems, the most common source is biofilm that builds up in pipes in the water system and more often in the home/customer-side service line. This is especially true for older homes and poorly maintained apartment buildings.

I know it's all the rage right now to shit on the US when and where one can, but our water system isn't the place to do it.

Refs:

[–] Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago

old lead service lines, neglected areas, and occasional local boil-water advisories notwithstanding

I know it’s all the rage right now to shit on the US when and where one can, but our water system isn’t the place to do it.

It sounds like the US water system is exactly the place to do it. We have neglected areas all over the place, and yet the EPA is being gutted and hamstrung and the HHS is trying to ban flouride instead of doing anything about vulnerable towns and schools that are just waiting to turn into Flint.