N fowleri, dengue fever claim two lives

Karachi
The twin menace of Naegleria fowleri and dengue hemorrhagic fever have killed two more people in Karachi, health official said on Tuesday.
This has raised the toll of deaths caused by the brain-eating amoeba in Karachi this year to five. The mosquito-borne disease has claimed its first victim in the city in 2015.
Sixteen-year-old Sufyan Ahmed, a resident of Hub, was brought to the Civil hospital suffering from high fever and diagnosed with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, which is caused by Naegleria fowleri. He was later admitted to the Jinnah hospital where he passed away.
Civil hospital officials confirmed that Ahmed was suffering from primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.
Last year, the brain-eating microbe had claimed 14 lives in the city.
Naegleria fowleri, a freshwater amoeba, can enter the human brain through the nasal passage during activities like performing ablution and swimming, and once afflicted, the patient hardly lives more than a week.
The amoeba lives in freshwater bodies such as ponds, lakes, swimming pools, underground and overhead water tanks. The interesting fact about its infection-causing ability is that the amoeba only poses a threat if it enters the body through the nose, meaning that drinking water infested with the microbe is safe.
Experts say that there is no scientifically-approved treatment available for primary amoebic meningoencephalitis and the only solution is the chlorination of water.
However, officials said of the 84 water samples collected from different areas of the city, no traces of chlorine were found in 54 of them, indicating that the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board is supplying untreated and hazardous water to the citizens. Last week, the provincial health department had set up a six-member committee comprising senior health and municipal officials to monitor the chlorination of water after the Naegleria fowleri.

Dengue death
A 10-year old child became the first dengue hemorrhagic fever victim in the city this year.
Dengue Prevention and Control Programme in-charge Dr Shakeel Mullick told The News that the child, who lived in Orangi Town, was admitted to private hospital on May 22. The child passed away the next day.
The official said 25 patients suffering from dengue fever were admitted to different hospitals in the city on Tuesday.
Overall, he added, 360 dengue fever patients had been admitted to public and private hospitals in the city this season.
Last year, the mosquito-borne disease infected thousands of people in the city and killed 17 of them.