Pakistani becomes 8th in world to survive brain-eating Naegleria

ISLAMABAD: A 22-year-old male patient of Naegleria in Pakistan becomes one of the eight survivors in the entire world.

“The patient is one of eight total Naegleria Laboratory confirmed cases in the entire world who have survived so far”, revealed Dr Rafique Commandant PNS Shifa Hospital Karachi while talking to The News.

The commandant said the patient had been under treatment for several months.

Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) — a national public health agency in the US — has also acknowledged the patient’s survival. The amoeba can enter the nasal cavity when swimming or diving in contaminated water bodies or as is more commonly seen in Pakistan, irrigating the nose with contaminated water. From nose, it makes its way into the brain and starts devouring the brain tissue thus deriving the name “brain-eating ameba”.

According to a study, Pakistan had the second highest prevalence of Naegleria infections around the world. The first case of PAM in Pakistan was recorded in Karachi in October 2008. Within a decade of this, the number of cases in Pakistan had overtaken those reported in the USA in a span of 50 years.

As of 2023, Naegleria has claimed seven lives in Pakistan. Of these, six deaths were reported in Karachi (four cases originating in Karachi, one in Hyderabad, and one in Quetta) and one in Lahore.