cw death
A Florida resident has died of a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after using unboiled tap water to clean their sinuses, local and federal officials say.
The Florida Health Department said the case involves a resident of Charlotte County but specific details were not immediately released. The CDC said the patient died on Monday.
The resident, whose identity has not been made public, is believed to have contracted Naegleria Fowleri after using unboiled tap water to rinse their sinuses daily, according to the CDC.
“DOH-Charlotte, as part of a multi-agency response, is continuing to investigate how this infection occurred and is working with the local public utilities to identify any potential links and make any necessary corrective actions,” the health department said.
Naegleria Fowleri can infect people when water containing the single-celled organism enters the body through the nose, usually while swimming or diving in ponds, lakes or rivers. In rare cases it can also be found in pipes connected to tap water.
“When water contaminated with Naegleria is sniffed up the nose, the ameba can travel to the brain,” according to the CDC website. “This causes the disease Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), which destroys brain tissue and usually results in death.”
Symptoms usually occur between 1 and 12 days after infection and may include headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms may progress to a stiff neck, confusion, seizures and other neurological symptoms.
An infection with the brain-eating amoeba is nearly always fatal, killing 153 out of 157 patients since the early 1960s. Most cases were found in southern U.S. states, especially Texas (39) and Florida (38).
Although Naegleria Fowleri is a heat-loving ameba and is usually found in warm freshwater environments, recent infections have also been found in northern U.S. states as cooler regions have become warmer and drier.
I don't know but I just realised that there's a caveat "untreated water" thing going on and now I'm wondering how the fuck this water is in tap water in some states. Seems like America doesn't treat its water properly?
Given the state of US infrastructure, nothing like that surprises me anymore. It makes perfect sense that some libertarians decided they don't want to pay taxes for water treatment because "you can buy bottled water" and closed down the local waterworks.
In half of Florida we don’t really have treated water at all, my hometown was all well water.
My childhood home had such high iron in the water the showers had a nice orange coating of rust on the plastic walls.
"Untreated" might just be referring to them not treating it themselves after drawing it from the faucet. If you're using a neti pot, then you can't use tap water unless you boil it. Tap water is treated to be safe to drink, not safe enough to be run through sinuses.