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Amoeba infection sounds ominous and dangerous, and should be treated as such. Typically, this infection is fatal as the protozoan enters the brain and invades its tissues. The vast majority of those affected die a few days after being infected. The easiest way to get close to an amoeba is in the summer, while bathing in warm water reservoirs. How does infection occur? What does it reveal? Is there a cure?
Amoeba infection – what are the risks of close contact with this parasite?
Amoeba infection is medically defined as nail rhizosis, which is meningitis in the literal sense. This name is associated with the parasite that causes the infection. On the one hand, it is very easy to get them – it happens while staying in warm and closed water reservoirs (lakes, ponds, swimming pools, hydrotherapy pools). Amoeba it can be found in moist air or soil, but it prefers warm, sweet and stagnant waters as an environment for development. On the other hand, once an organism is infected, statistically speaking, it is impossible to save it. Infection usually occurs in dirty or polluted water. The parasite attacks the human body through the nose, opening the mucous membranes and finally reaching the tissues in the brain. The relationship between the exposure of some people to the attack of this parasite and the indifferent reaction of others while staying in the same body of water has not been studied so far. Only the increasing risk of infection in the summer period in immunocompromised people is diagnosed.
Amoeba infection — Poles free from this threat?
Occurrence ameby depends on many factors. First of all, however, one condition should be met – natural resources of the environment in the form of warm stagnant waters are needed. As is well known, in Poland we cannot complain about the excess of such. Cold or simply insufficiently warm waters predominate. In the case of closed tanks, the water is usually chlorinated, and the pool recess itself is tiled and systematically cleaned. However, there are exceptions to this rule, artificially heated waters also create conditions for the development of the parasite, so the risk cannot be completely ruled out amoeba infection in Polish conditions.
Negleriosis – how to recognize the symptoms of this deadly threat?
It is not difficult to realize that an infection has occurred in the body. Symptoms usually occur immediately after contact with the parasite or a few days later. Headaches, increased body temperature, vomiting, neck stiffness, drowsiness will appear very quickly. In the further stage of the development of the parasite in the body, there will be problems with concentration, maintaining balance, convulsions, hallucinations. This stage is very rapid and irreversible. Amoeba infection is diagnosed by examining the cerebrospinal fluid for the presence of this rare parasite.
Can medicine help in the fight against the amoeba?
Almost all amoeba diagnosis results in death. Does medicine offer no solution and rescue? The use of antibiotics is not effective in this situation, because they do not reach the brain – the main addressee of sinister actions protozoan. An experimental treatment involving the administration of antibiotics directly to the brain gives a chance of survival. In view of such intimidating statistics regarding the chances of recovery, which in the case of amoeba infestation are almost equal to zero, preventive action is of paramount importance. You should avoid bathing in warm, fresh waters, and when bathing, you should plug your nose as much as possible, through which the protozoan enters the brain tissues.