Recently, the Korea Disease Agency reported the first case of death caused by “brain-eating amoeba” in the history of the country.
The victim, a Korean patient in his 50s, was admitted to the hospital the day after he returned from Thailand on Dec. 10 and eventually died on Dec. 21.
In 2016, a case of the disease was also reported in Shenzhen, China.
Britain’s 2,000-year-old Roman baths were permanently closed to bathing in 1978, also because of a case of brain-eating worms that year.
The formal name for the “brain-eating worm” is Naegleria fowleri.
It is a single-celled organism that lives in soil and warm water around the world, and is especially common in freshwater in wild environments.
In 2021, 154 cases of brain-feeding worm infections were reported worldwide.
It has a 97% mortality rate and almost the only chance of survival is to receive treatment in the first two days of infection.
However, the good news is that the disease does not spread from person to person.
The main prevention method is to avoid swimming in wild water as much as possible.
Avoiding inhalation of dirty water and direct drinking of tap water that has not been properly disinfected is another good idea.
You should get medical attention once you have a headache or other suspicious symptoms.
