The story of an Indian teenager who survived a brain-eating human amoeba

Jakarta –

Thanks to a public service announcement on social media, an Indian teenager’s life was saved from a rare brain-eating amoeba. The disease is so rare, he is the ninth person in the world to have survived the disease.

Afnan Jasim, 14, is thought to have contracted the amoeba in June after swimming in a swimming pool in the state of Kerala.

The doctor who treated Afnan said it was a brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri It is possible that it entered the body of the teenager from contaminated water.

Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), a disease caused by the amoeba, has a mortality rate of 97%.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1971 and 2023, only eight people survived the disease in the four countries of Australia, the US, Mexico and Pakistan.

In all cases, symptoms were noted between nine hours and five days after infection. Treatment during that period plays an important role in their recovery.

Medical experts say that timely treatment is the best way to cure this disease. Symptoms of PAM include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, confusion, stiff neck, loss of balance, seizures and/or hallucinations.

It is known that Amoeba enters the human body through the nasal passages and travels through the cribiform plate to reach the brain. The plate is located at the base of the skull.

Its job is to send the olfactory nerve forward to activate the sense of smell.

“The parasite then releases various chemicals and destroys the brain,” said doctor Abdul Rauf, who treated Afnan.

Most patients die from intracranial pressure caused by fluid inside the skull and brain tissue.

He said that amoeba was found in fresh water lakes, especially in warm water.

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“People should not jump or dive into the water. That’s how amoeba enters the body. If the water is contaminated, the amoeba enters through your nose,” he said.

The best thing to do, he said, is to avoid polluted waters.

Even in swimming pools, it is recommended that people keep their mouths above the surface of the water.

“Chlorination of water sources is very important,” said doctor Rauf.

A research paper published in Karnataka State, India, also reported cases of infants in India and Nigeria who contracted dangerous amoeba from pool water.

Since 1965, about 400 cases of PAM have been reported worldwide, and in India there have been less than 30 cases so far.

“Kerala reported PAM cases in 2018 and 2020. This year around five cases have been recorded so far,” the doctor said.

Baby Afnan Memorial Hospital with the doctor who treated him, Abdul Rauf (right).

Afnan started experiencing symptoms five days after swimming at a local swimming pool in Kozhikode district. He had a seizure and started complaining of a headache.

His parents took him to the doctor, but Afnan did not improve.

But Afnan’s father, MK Siddiqui, 46, thought to link his son’s symptoms to something he read on social media.

Siddiqui, who is a dairy farmer, said he was reading about the effects of the Nipah virus on social media when he came across information about the deadly brain-eating amoeba.

“I read something about seizures caused by infection. After Afnan had a seizure, I immediately took him to the local hospital,” said Siddiqui.

When Afnan’s seizures did not stop, Afnan was taken to another hospital. However, the hospital does not have a neurologist.

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Afnan was then taken to Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode. There, Afnan was treated by Dr. Rauf, a pediatrician.

Dr. Rauf Siddiqui praised for alerting the doctor that Afnan was swimming in the pool and the symptoms the teenager experienced.

That set of facts helps doctors to diagnose the disease in a timely manner.

Before Afnan was taken to the hospital, three people had died in Kerala due to the disease.

“After that [tiga orang meninggal]we notified the government as this is a public health issue and a public service announcement was launched,” said doctor Rauf.

It was a public service announcement that Siddiqui read on social media.

Doctors performed tests on Afnan that helped to detect the presence of amoeba in the cerebrospinal fluid of the teenager’s brain and spinal cord.

The doctor then administered a combination of antimicrobial drugs by injecting them into his spine.

Treatment also includes administration of the drug Miltefosine which is not available in India and is imported from Germany.

“The government had introduced it when similar cases were reported. This drug is used for rare diseases in India but it is not very expensive,” said doctor Rauf.

“On the first day, the patient was not very conscious because of the seizure. Within three days, Afnan’s condition started to improve,” he said.

A week later, the doctor did the test again and he no longer found the amoeba in Afnan’s body.

Nevertheless, Afnan will continue to take medication for the next month. After that he plans to continue his studies.

This experience left a big impact on Afnan, who says he now wants to study a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

“Nurses are working hard for patients, he told doctors,” said Afnan’s father, MK Siddiqui.

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