A person in Charlotte County, Florida, just wanted to alleviate some symptoms by clearing his nasal cavity with water. But what happened next led to his early demise.
The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County reported in a news release issued late last month that a resident got infected by the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri from “sinus rinse practices utilizing tap water.”
The department didn’t reveal the specifics of the case but said it will proceed to analyze how the infection occurred. It also warned locals against sinus rinsing with tap water, suggesting using distilled or sterile water.
The department also advised locals to hunt medical assistance immediately in the event that they experienced symptoms, similar to headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, disorientation, seizures, lack of balance and hallucinations, after swimming in warm lakes or rivers or after rinsing their noses with tap water.
In an emailed statement to CNN, Florida Department of Health press secretary Jae Williams said they were still conducting an investigation to know the circumstances of the case, which sadly resulted in death.
“An Epidemiological investigation is being conducted to know the unique circumstances of this infection. I can confirm the infection, unfortunately, resulted in a death, and any additional information on this case is confidential to guard patient privacy,” Williams stated.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed via Fox 4 last week that the person died on Feb. 20 after rinsing his sinuses each day with unboiled tap water.
Explaining the infection to the news outlet, Eric Milbrandt, the director of the marine laboratory on the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, said N. fowleri infection is incredibly rare and may only be contracted through the nose.
“It’s present in hot springs, it’s present in warm water, lakes, and it will possibly even be present in hot water tanks, and in some very rare cases, in tap water,” Milbrandt added.
Addressing the concerns about drinking water from public water treatment facilities, Milbrandt said, “A correct, municipal treatment plant would have filtration, chlorination, and testing. So your drinking water needs to be tremendous.”
The CDC has since confirmed via an announcement to Fox 4 that the person was the primary case ever in Florida where an individual got infected with the brain-eating amoeba through tap water. Florida documented 37 infections before this, and all of them were linked to swimming in bodies of water.
Local authorities didn’t disclose where the person was staying before his demise. However the local Department of Health said the person lived in two homes in Charlotte County.
“I’m not going to talk to any specific cases,” Charlotte County health officer Joe Pepe told the outlet. “What we’re working on immediately is investigation in order that we will discover some extent source, but we saw a possibility to lean forward and being responsible and just sort of helping educate the community on this piece of it on the very least.”
He stressed that they need to grab this chance to alert the community about water safety and sinus safety within the wake of the N. fowleri fatality.