On Tuesday, official sources confirmed the unfortunate demise of a five-year-old girl from Moonniyur panchayat in Malappuram district, Kerala.
The little girl had been suffering from amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare brain infection caused by a free-living amoeba found in contaminated waters. Despite receiving treatment at the Kozhikode Medical College’s Institute of Maternal and Child Health for over a week, her condition deteriorated, leading to her passing on Monday night.
Medical experts explain that this infection occurs when non-parasitic amoebae bacteria enter the body through the nose via contaminated water. The girl had bathed in a nearby pond on May 1 and began experiencing symptoms such as fever, headache, and vomiting by May 10. Despite medical intervention, she remained unresponsive and was placed on a ventilator. Other children who had also bathed in the same pond were closely monitored but were eventually discharged as they showed no signs of infection.
It is worth noting that similar cases of this disease were previously reported in the coastal Alappuzha district in 2023 and 2017. The main symptoms associated with this condition include fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures.
