A South Korean citizen, a man in his 50s, had passed away from Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as ‘brain-eating amoeba’ after he returned from Thailand. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed it as the first death in the country.
The man returned to South Korea on 10 December after a four-month stint in Thailand. He was admitted to a hospital immediately after he returned. But sadly, he passed away on Wednesday last week.
KDCA conducted genetic tests to classify the pathogens as ‘brain-eating amoeba’
They ran genetic tests on three types of pathogens contributing to Naegleria fowleri to confirm the root of his demise. As a result, the gene in the man’s body was 99.6 per cent similar to the meningitis patient from abroad. Thus, they concluded the man’s death was because of the brain-eating amoeba.
The first case was in 1937 in Virginia. This is also the first known infection from Naegleria fowleri in South Korea.
What is Naegleria fowleri?
It is a free-living amoeba (a single-celled living organism). It is small in size and can only be seen through a microscope.
Usually, this organism is in warm fresh water like lakes, rivers, hot springs and soil. Interestingly, only one species of Naegleria infects people: Naegleria fowleri.
Do you know? This brain-eating amoeba infects people when water containing the organism enters through the nose. Yet, there is no evidence that it can spread through water vapour or aerosol droplets like shower mist or humidifier.
Also, people cannot be infected with Naegleria fowleri by drinking contaminated water.
Since many known and unknown diseases are resurfacing these days, we hope everyone is aware of their severity. Always be cautious about our health and surrounding as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. You can make a difference.
Sources: The Straits Times Asia, Centres For Disease Control and Prevention, Youtube CNN