The southern state of Kerala has issued a health alert as cases and deaths from a rare infection more than double from last year<\/p>\n
The southern Indian state of Kerala is battling a growing health crisis following an outbreak of a rare \u201cbrain-eating amoeba\u201d that has killed 19 people and infected dozens more, officials confirmed on Thursday.
\nThe disease, known as Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), is caused by naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba found in warm freshwater and soil. Once it enters the body through the nose, the organism attacks brain tissue, triggering rapid swelling and inflammation that can prove fatal within days.
\nThe patients in Kerala have ranged in age from three months to 91 years, complicating efforts to trace common exposure sources or contain the spread.
\nHealth Minister Veena George has described the situation as a \u201cserious public health concern.\u201d Unlike earlier years when outbreaks were concentrated in clusters linked to a single water source, \u201cwe are not seeing clusters linked to a single water source,\u201d George told NDTV News. \u201cThese are single, isolated cases, which has complicated our epidemiological investigations.\u201d
\nShe also stressed the importance of a swift medical response: \u201cEarly detection is key,\u201d she said, noting that Kerala\u2019s survival rate of 24% is significantly higher than the global average of less than 3%. This relative success, she added, was due to timely diagnosis and the use of the anti-parasitic drug miltefosine.<\/p>\n
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A government doctor told AFP that case numbers remain small but \u201ctests are being conducted on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases.\u201d Officials have stepped up water-sanitation measures and are urging the public to avoid unchlorinated or stagnant freshwater sources.
\nAccording to a Kerala government document cited by News18, PAM primarily targets the central nervous system and disproportionately affects otherwise healthy children, teenagers, and young adults. Experts stress that infection does not occur from drinking contaminated water but when it enters the nasal passages \u2013 typically during swimming, bathing, or diving in unsafe water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The southern state of Kerala has issued a health alert as cases and deaths from a rare infection more than double from last year The southern Indian state of Kerala…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t