Brain-eating amoeba: Kerala reports another death from amoebic meningoencephalitis

Key points

• A 73-year-old woman from Nellikuzhi in Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district of Kerala has died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).
• The Health department has confirmed that the death occurred due to the rare, but lethal central nervous system infection caused by free-living amoebae found in freshwater, lakes, and rivers.
• Senior officials said on Wednesday that the woman succumbed to the disease on May 15 at a private hospital in Kothamangalam.
• She had developed symptoms of the infection, including fever and headache on May 6. She was admitted at the hospital on May 8 and was rushed to another hospital in Aluva the same day after her condition had worsened.
• As she continued to remain critical, she was shifted back to the private hospital in Kothamangalam after three days.