A South Korean man in his fifties paid for a dive in Thailand with his life. During his holiday, the man became infected with the rare and very deadly ‘naegleria fowleri’, better known as the brain-eating amoeba.
Earlier this week, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed that the victim died from the brain-eating amoeba, according to the Korean Times. The man in his fifties spent four months in Thailand before entering Korea on December 10.
On the day of his arrival in Korea, the patient started showing symptoms of meningitis: headache, fever, vomiting, slurred speech and neck stiffness. The next day he ended up in the emergency room at the hospital. There his condition worsened and on December 21 he was pronounced dead.
After his death, health authorities conducted tests to determine the exact cause of death. It turned out to be the rare infection ‘naegleria fowleri’ or brain-eating amoeba. This is an amoeba that mainly occurs in places with stagnant, warm and fresh water. In warmer regions, the amoeba is more common. It is also sometimes found in places where industry discharges hot water.
Not contagious
The amoeba can enter the nervous system through the nose and then spread to the brain. It usually takes 1 to 9 days for symptoms to appear. in 95 percent of cases the victim dies within two weeks. The infection is not passed from person to person.
The infection was first discovered in 1965 by Australian pathologist Malcom Fowler. Of a total of 151 known infected individuals through the year 2020 in the US, only four patients survived.
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