South Korea Confirms First Death From Brain Eating Amoeba

[RAMROD 117,143]

 

South Korea reported its first case of infection from Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as “brain-eating amoeba,” health authorities said Monday.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed that a Korean national in his 50s had died after returning from Thailand. The man came back to Korea on Dec. 10 after a four-month stint there. He was admitted to a hospital the next day and died Wednesday last week.

The KDCA said it had conducted genetic tests on three types of pathogens causing Naegleria fowleri to confirm the cause of his death. The testing confirmed the gene in the man’s body was 99.6 percent similar to that found in a meningitis patient reported abroad.

This is the first known infection from the disease in South Korea. The first case was reported in Virginia in 1937.

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba, or a single-celled living organism, that lives in soil and warm freshwater, such as hot springs, lakes and rivers, across the globe. The amoeba enters the body by inhalation through the nose and travels to the brain.

The initial symptoms might include headache, fever, nausea or vomiting, and later symptoms can lead to severe headaches, fever, vomiting and a stiff neck, according to the KDCA. The incubation period for Naegleria fowleri is usually from two to three days and up to 15 days at most.

Although human-to-human transmission of Naegleria fowleri is impossible, the KDCA asked residents to refrain from swimming in regions and neighborhoods where the disease broke out. It added that the risk of infection was not high, but most cases start through swimming, but people cannot be infected with Naegleria fowleri by drinking contaminated water. It added that the highest risk is when the water temperature rises during the summer.

A total of 381 cases of Naegleria fowleri have been reported around the globe as of 2018, including in India, Thailand, the United States, China and Japan.

The United States alone reported 154 infections from 1962 through 2021. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only four people survived, with a death rate over 97 percent.

https://m.koreaherald.com/amp/view.php?ud=20221226000478

[PartySick 172,546]

Literally nobody better panic 'cause these things are already all over the world. I had a friend die in highschool from it. Getting water up your nose in Florida is potentially a death sentence 

[River 127,560]

Yummy I guess 

[nATAH 57,056]

4 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Literally nobody better panic 'cause these things are already all over the world. I had a friend die in highschool from it. Getting water up your nose in Florida is potentially a death sentence 

and here's me thinking the gators were the problem

[PartySick 172,546]

Just now, NATAH said:

and here's me thinking the gators were the problem

In order of most to least dangerous:

Rednecks > dirty water > mosquitos > venomous animals >>>>>>>>>> alligators

[nATAH 57,056]

Just now, PartySick said:

In order of most to least dangerous:

Rednecks > dirty water > mosquitos > venomous animals >>>>>>>>>> alligators

australia act 2, me thinks

[PartySick 172,546]

Just now, NATAH said:

australia act 2, me thinks

Idk, I think Australians are smarter tbh

[RAMROD 117,143]

25 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Idk, I think Australians are smarter tbh

Google the term Bogans and come back here 

[PartySick 172,546]

27 minutes ago, RAMROD said:

Google the term Bogans and come back here 

So Aus has rednecks too 

[RAMROD 117,143]

1 minute ago, PartySick said:

So Aus has rednecks too 

They do. Probably descendants from rednecks in Murica

[Dennis 8,391]

I'm worried 2023 may have something in store that's worse than what we've seen in 2020-2022 so far.

[sarahb 17,188]

24 minutes ago, PartySick said:

So Aus has rednecks too 

Yep, except you don't have to be poor or rural to be a bogan.

Inner-city bogans and cashed up bogans are a thing 

Hell they're not necessarily right wing or racist either. 

[Oriane 22,779]

I'm not much into swimming and now I'm even less. I'll stay on the beach

[Ziggy 14,054]

3 hours ago, PartySick said:

Literally nobody better panic 'cause these things are already all over the world. I had a friend die in highschool from it. Getting water up your nose in Florida is potentially a death sentence 

Ah well…not gonna be trying Florida anytime soon tf