Mysterious deaths

The very idea of an organism that eats away at the brain to cause death is a horrifying one. The notion seems to belong to horror films with a scientific twist. But we have learned recently that a ‘brain-eating amoeba’, or Naegleria fowleri, if we go by its medical name, appears to be on the loose in Karachi, with the latest two victims, a three-year-old and a nine-month-old infant dying at private hospitals in the city. Details of the latest deaths, which bring the toll to 10 in the city, have been reported by the Dengue Surveillance Cell.

Dr Shakeel Mullick, who heads the cell, has asked private hospitals to report Naegleria deaths. The fear right now is that they may not all be doing so, which means that we cannot be sure that each death has been reported. The amoeba seems to cause mild symptoms including fever, stomach pain and vomiting. This may be one reason why people may be staying away from hospitals as these symptoms do not seem too worrisome in the initial phases.

The presence of the sickness was first reported by the Disease Early Warning System of the World Health Organisation, with health authorities now stating that they are planning an awareness campaign to alert the public. The problem seems to be that so much about the sickness is still a mystery. An early hypothesis by doctors that swimming in unhygienic water may be the source of the organism entering the body has been defeated by the fact that only one of the victims swam. So far, experts appear to have little idea about how to prevent the disease.

It seems that clear heads need to be put together to try and reach some kind of solution. Calls have been made for senior physicians to ‘think outside the box’. Perhaps, we also need to look to other countries. There have been reports of similar amoebas having been traced to water used to cleanse nasal passages in both India and the US. This may be a clue to work on, so that the deaths can be stopped.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2012.