English
A 14-year-old boy in Kerala has made a rare recovery from amoebic meningoencephalitis, commonly called ‘brain-eating amoeba’ disease, which has a 97 percent mortality rate. The news comes amidst the outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in the state which has already claimed the life of a teenage boy even as many people he came in contact with, have been put under quarantine.
Describing the boy’s recovery from amoebic meningoencephalitis as a rare occurrence given the the high mortality rate of the disease, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said the 14-year-old has become one of the only 11 people in the world who have survived the lethal disease.
George hailed the efforts of the team which led the coordination and treatment efforts, saying that there dedication has resulted in saving the life of the young boy.
As per an official statement, the health minister convened a meeting when the boy’s case was reported and and special cautionary instructions were issued.
“The boy had an epileptic seizure and was admitted to a private hospital in Kozhikode on the same day. The Health department provided Miltefosine medicine (a broad-spectrum anti-microbial used to treat free-living amoeba infections), and he recovered after three weeks of treatment. Early detection and access to available treatments contributed to his recovery,” the statement said.
Health workers at the Primary Health Centre in Melady in Kozhikode district suspected that the boy’s symptoms might be meningoencephalitis and alerted the authorities, it said, adding that preventive measures were strengthened following the outbreak of disease.
On July 5, a special meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led to instructions for molecular testing facilities to confirm the disease in its early stages.
On May 28, the health minister called a meeting to prepare treatment guidelines under expert leadership, resulting in the release of a treatment protocol for amoebic meningoencephalitis on July 20.
This was the first comprehensive treatment protocol for the disease in the country, the state health department asserted.
A highly rare but extremely lethal central nervous system infection, amoebic meningoencephalitis, is caused free-living amoebae which is found in contaminated freshwater sources such as lakes, rivers, and streams.
These amoebae enter the body through the nose from contaminated water and the victim shows symptoms of the disease like fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures.
A five-year-old girl from Malappuram was the first victim of the rare disease in Kerala and died on May 21. A month later, a 13-year-old from Kannur also fell prey to the deadly infection and died on June 25.
(With PTI inputs)
