Naegleria — again

It is high time the authorities maintain proper chlorine levels in water tanks at the advent of the Naegleria season

A total of three lives have been lost ahead of the Naegleria season in Karachi giving the health authorities a clear sign as to where the focus of their activities should be. Instead of indulging in a blame game, the civic administration, the Naegleria committee and the association of private hospitals need to come on board to generate solutions to prevent the brain-eating amoeba from claiming more lives. Two of the recent deaths from Naegleria took place in the DHA and Clifton areas with the patients being rushed to a nearby private hospital. In these cases, the hospital authorities failed to inform the Naegleria committee which was formed last year after multiple deaths were reported as a result of the amoeba. The lack of coordination between these various groups only delays the institution of preventive measures to control the spread of this pathogen.

When this year’s first Naegleria death was reported in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area, the Naegleria committee and the water board took steps to add chlorine to the water being supplied to the neighbourhood. Had the committee been informed immediately after the first death in DHA, the Cantonment Board Clifton — which supplies water to this area — perhaps could have added the required amount of chlorine to water tanks and managed to save the second life. The authorities need to be proactive. It is high time they maintained proper chlorine levels in water tanks at the advent of the Naegleria season instead of waiting for cases to emerge and then take preventive measures. The health department needs to empower the Naegleria committee to hold hospitals and health facilities accountable for the way they deal with such cases. Maintenance of proper records will help the authorities mark areas from where the cases are being recorded and help the committee take measures that focus specifically on those areas, apart from initiating a separate city-wide campaign. As the residents of Karachi wait for the civic administration to spring into action, they must take precautions at their own end, which could include adding chlorine to their personal water tanks and avoiding swimming in public pools during this season.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th,  2015.

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