Repeated cases of rare amoebic infection: Kerala MP writes to Centre, seeks expert team for study

Kozhikode: Kozhikode MP MK Raghavan has written to the union government to send an expert team to Kerala to study cases of amoebic encephalitis in State. The request was raised in a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda. The move comes as amoebic encephalitis, a rare infection, has been repeatedly reported in India.

Since it was first reported in the state, only six people have contracted the disease in the past seven years. However, in the past two months, three children in the state have been affected by amoebic encephalitis, sparking concern. Of these, two children have died. 

On 21 May, a five-year-old from Munniyoor, Malappuram, and on 16 June, a 13-year-old from Kannur, died due to amoebic encephalitis. The five-year-old contracted the disease after bathing in the Kadalundi River, while the other two contracted it after bathing in ponds.

A twelve-year-old from Farook College Town in Kozhikode is in a critical condition on a ventilator at a private hospital. He had bathed at Achamkulam (pond) near Farook College.

However, there is no need for others who bathed in the same ponds to worry, as the amoeba enters the body only through the nose as water enters it, said Dr E. Danish, Assistant Professor of General Medicine at Kozhikode Medical College.

He also stated that it is not possible to say whether the pollution of water bodies is a major cause and that many factors, including weather, can contribute to the increase of such diseases. No further cases have been reported from the same sources, according to Dr Sumangala, Medical Officer at Ramanattukara Family Health Centre. The disease does not spread through drinking water. The mortality rate of the disease is 97 percent.