9) A male child of seven years old died after six days of complaining of symptom
ID: 244503 • Letter: 9
Question
9) A male child of seven years old died after six days of complaining of symptoms. His symptoms started with headache, fever, nausea, and a stiff neck. A few days later he was confused, hallucinating and had no recognition of those around him. His recent history revealed he had been healthy and enjoyed the last days of his summer vacation swimming in the warmth of a pond at his grandparent's cottage. a. Based on the symptoms and your observation of the CNS culture slide, what diagnosis would you suspect? Name the organism. b. How was this infectious agent transmitted? How did it enter his body? c. How would you treat this disease? d. Is this disease contagious? What preventable measures can you take to prevent this infection?Explanation / Answer
9a. ANS: The organism is called as Naegleria fowleri.
Naegleria fowleri is a free-living excavate form of protist that lives in warm fresh water. Fowleri finds its way into the brain by eating through the olfactory neurons in the nose where it multiplies itself greatly by feeding on nerve tissue. Once it penetrates the nervous tissue, fowleri's feeding results in significant necrosis.
9b. ANS: Exposure to the organism is extremely common due to its wide distribution in nature, but thus far lacks the ability to infect the body through any method other than direct contact with the olfactory nerve, which is exposed only at the extreme vertical terminus of the paranasal sinuses; the contaminated water must be deeply insufflated into the sinus cavities for transmission to occur.
Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose. This typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places, like lakes and rivers.
9c. ANS: Since the protist travels by feeding on nervous tissue, fowleri could not enter the brain via bloodstream. Death usually occurs within 14 days of exposure due to destruction the autonomic nerve cells of the medulla oblongata.
Luckily for everyone this disease is rare. Anti-leishmania drug, miltefosine has shown ameba-killing activity against free-living amebae, including Naegleria fowleri
9d. ANS: Naegleria, specifically, will reside in your sinuses and brain until you die, so it is not a contagious.
Preventions: The only certain way to prevent a Naegleria fowleri infection due to swimming is to refrain from water-related activities in warm freshwater.
Don't huff warm lake water too deeply through your nose, and you'll probably never get it.
Personal actions to reduce the risk of Naegleria fowleri infection should focus on limiting the amount of water going up the nose.
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