An Arkansas resident has died after being infected with an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba. The Department of Health on Thursday announced the death from the Naegleria fowleri infection, a rare infection which destroys brain tissue, causing brain swelling and in certain cases, death.
It can also survive in hot water heaters, it’s why you should always use distilled water (or boiled water) for shit like neti pots, since the only attack surfaces that N.fowlri has is in the upper sinuses.
In reality, though, this shit is exceedlying rare, particularly in cold climates. Even in the south, it is extremely rare.
Here’s a good video on it if you are interested. Once again, it is very rare, like, less than 100 people get it in a year in the US.
https://youtu.be/7OPg-ksxZ4Y?si=eTGQ2vnxR0JqwYh_
Even where it is found, dozens of people could swim in the same water, and only one gets it.
Doesn’t it have to go up your nose or something? Direct contact with an eyeball?
They are pretty small so unless there’s billions of them in the water body it’s probably pretty unlikely that it actually gets to where it needs to be to infect someone.