A person recently died in Florida after being infected with a rare “brain-eating” amoeba, Naegleria fowleri.
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The patient was infected after using “Sinus Rinse” with tap water according to the Charlotte County Health Department.
“An epidemiological investigation is underway to understand the circumstances of the infection. I can only confirm that the affected person is deceased. Medical secrecy does not allow us to give any other information,” spokesperson Jae Williams told CNN.
The health authorities recall that it is always recommended to use bottled water or boiled tap water to use products like Sinus Rinse.
Amoebic meningoencephalitis only occurs when water contaminated by the amoeba enters the body through the nose.
Unboiled tap water is not safe unless it has been properly filtered or treated.
Several micro-organisms such as bacteria or protozoa, including amoebas, can be found there.
However, there is no danger of becoming infected by ingesting tap water, since gastric acid in the stomach kills these organisms.
Several fatal cases of amoebic meningoencephalitis with bathers in lakes have been recorded in recent years in the United States.
From 1962 to 2021, only four out of 154 people have survived, according to the CDC.