Naegleria fowleri refers to a single-celled and heat-loving ameba in the phylum protozoa referred as Percolozoa. It is a type of free-living organism, which normally lives in soil and freshwater to consume bacteria and organic matter. Naegleria are of thermophillic, which indicate that they stay active in hot water during the summer months. They prevail in both temperate and tropical climates across the world. The organism remains present in any type of freshwater, which include drainage ditches, lakes, rivers, ponds or every other type of water bodies exposed to soil. Fowleri is common in geothermal water or hot springs and in localized areas, where discharge of warm water takes place into lakes.
What Is The Prognosis For Naegleria Infection?
The prognosis of patients suffering from Naegleria infection is extremely poor, as 99 percent of the infections are of fatal ones even though patients undergo with intensive treatment. Even the rare survivor among the infected patients has residual and neurological problems, including the problem of seizure disorders.
However, when patients undergo with the treatment immediately with a medicine course, including miltefosine, they can hope to live for relatively more numbers of years. If you have a look at the scenario of patients suffered from Naegleria fowleri infection, you would likely come to know that only one or two cases have experienced better prognosis provided they undergo with rapid diagnosis, intensive and prompt therapy, including the medication treatment with miltefosine. However, these people still experienced residual problems.(1)
Stages Of Naegleria Fowleri
- Naegleria fowleri organism passes through three different stages in its complete life cycle, which include flagellate, cyst and trophozoite.
- Cysts remain highly stable in their own environment and they are able to withstand about freezing temperatures.
- Flagellate form of Naegleria fowleri is its intermediate stage and it although moves but never consumes any nutrient or able to reproduce.
- Trophozoite is the active form of Naegleria fowleri and it remains in both eating and reproducing phase. Human beings and animals are its accidental hosts.(1)
Causes Of Naegleria Fowleri Infection
The exposure of Naegleria Fowleri takes place whenever fresh and warm water forces in the upward direction to the nose while swimming, water skiing, diving, playing with any of the hose-fed toys of water and various other recreational activities. Even you may suffer from the problem from well water and public drinking water.(1)
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