&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Kerala’s ‘brain-eating amoeba’ scare deepens: 3-year-old latest to be infected, death toll rises to 23")
In India's Kerala, another case of the fatal brain infection popularly referred to as 'brain-eating amoeba' was confirmed on Monday (Oct 13). The latest patient, as per reports, is a three-and-a-half-year-old boy from Thayyil in Kannur district. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri. This comes as the death toll from the fatal brain infection went up to 23, as of Sunday (Oct 12), reported the state's health minister Veena George. In a statement, the minister said that, so far this year, a total of 104 cases of amoebic encephalitis, aka brain fever, have been reported in Kerala. He also revealed which Kerala districts have been hit worst by the brain fever. Here's all you need to know.
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These Kerala districts have reported the highest number of cases of brain-eating amoeba
Kerala's Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts have been most affected by the so-called brain-eating amoeba, according to estimates. In a post on Facebook, Veena George said that following the 2023 Nippah virus outbreak in Kozhikode, "it was decided and directed that all cases of encephalitis (brain fever) must be mandatorily reported and that the causes behind such cases should be identified".
The health minister added that, as a result, "from 2024 onwards, encephalitis cases began to be officially reported, and some of them were found to be amoebic encephalitis". She said that, including the cases reported on Sunday, "a total of 104 amoebic encephalitis cases have been reported so far, of which 23 patients have died".
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Kerala defying high global mortality rates
George also detailed that globally, the fatality rate for Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba that causes amoebic encephalitis, stands at 98 per cent and for Acanthamoeba-related cases, the damning rate is somewhere above 70 per cent. However, she noted that despite the high global mortality rate, "Kerala has managed to significantly reduce the death rate by detecting and treating the disease at an early stage".
"Based on the decisions taken at a joint meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, various departments are working together to ensure scientific chlorination and other preventive measures are carried out continuously across the state," she added.
