One more succumbs to suspected Amoebic meningoencephalitis

A 51-year old man from Chavakkad in Thrissur district has died in a suspected amoebic meningoencephalitis case.

The victim, identified as Raheem, collapsed in Kozhikode city on Thursday and was admitted to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital (MCH). He succumbed to the illness on Friday.

This marks the latest death in a concerning series of fatalities linked to the infection in Kerala. According to Health department officials, it is the eighth fatality at the medical college hospital from amoebic meningoencephalitis in the past two months and puts the Statewide death toll at 18 this outbreak season.

The Health department sources confirm that there are 10 patients currently undergoing treatment at the hospital.

In response to the rising number of cases, the Kerala government had initiated several preventive measures including the chlorination of wells, public water tanks and other water storage systems in the affected regions.

Health Minister Veena George had also urged the public to be vigilant and avoid bathing or swimming in unsafe water sources, particularly in stagnant waterbodies. Importance of nose clips while swimming had also been highlighted in several social media awareness campaigns as part of the intensified awareness drive.

Doctors who attended some of the recent cases reiterated that the disease would not spread from person to person but exclusively through contaminated water entering the nasal passage. Early symptoms of infection include headache, nausea, fever, stiff neck, vomiting and symptoms that often resemble to meningitis.