Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis Caused by Naegleria fowleri, Karachi, Pakistan (13 cases - washing with tap water suspected as cause)

[Emily]

http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/2/pdfs/258.pdf

Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis Caused by Naegleria fowleri, Karachi, Pakistan
Sadia Shakoor, Mohammad Asim Beg,
Syed Faisal Mahmood, Rebecca Bandea,
Rama Sriram, Fatima Noman, Farheen Ali,
Govinda S. Visvesvara, and Afi a Zafar
We report 13 cases of Naegleria fowleri primary amebic
meningoencephalitis in persons in Karachi, Pakistan, who
had no history of aquatic activities. Infection likely occurred
through ablution with tap water. An increase in primary amebic
meningoencephalitis cases may be attributed to rising
temperatures, reduced levels of chlorine in potable water,
or deteriorating water distribution systems.....

 

[alert]

Re: Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis Caused by Naegleria fowleri, Karachi, Pakistan (13 cases - washing with tap water suspected as cause)

This is a fascinating read. The incident in question took place over 18 months in 2008-2010. What I find odd is that if the tap water was contaminated, why did these 13 individuals develop this illness, but the rest of the city did not? One might suspect that most of the city would wash with the tap water, but most of the population was not affected. I wonder what peculiar behavior these individuals may have had that the general population did not.

Interesting...