Kozhikode: Health authorities in Kerala have confirmed a new case of amebic meningoencephalitis (AME), commonly known as infection by the brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri. The patient is a young male relative of a recently deceased victim and is currently receiving treatment at Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital, where he is reported to be stable.
he seven-year-old boy, whose name is withheld for privacy, is the younger brother of a nine-year-old girl from Thamarassery who succumbed to the disease recently. Both children had bathed in a local pond near their residence, which is suspected to be the source of the infection. The pond and other nearby water bodies are now under intense scrutiny by health officials as they investigate potential reservoirs of the amoeba.
This brings the total number of patients admitted and treated for amoebic meningoencephalitis at the Kozhikode Medical College to four, including an 11-year-old girl from Malappuram, a three-month-old infant from Omassery in critical condition, and a 49-year-old man also undergoing treatment.