A man who bathed from a creek in the village of Navaicula in Thiruvananthapurama, in October 2024, where a teenager bathed, which was diagnosed with amoebian meingoencephalitis with a rare disease. | Photo Credit: Nirmal Harindran
Increasing pollution of watercourses in the state and increasing the ambient temperature could lead to increased amoebic concentrations in water points and the growing incidence of amoebic meningoencephalitis in the state, said the Minister of Health of Health Veen George in the State Assembly.
On Tuesday, Mrs. George said on Tuesday questions about meningoencephalitis amoebic meningoencephalitis on Tuesday stated that the presence of amoeba has been detected in many domestic holes water samples, water storage tanks, public wells, ponds and swimming pools.
The species that were identified from different water sources through PCR included Balamuthia Mandrillaris, Vermamoeba vermiformis, paravahikampfika Francinae and acanthamoeba. Of the cases confirmed by the PCR, five cases were caused by the Naegleria fowleri, known as an amoeba consuming the brain, while in more than 20 cases it was the causal organism of acanthamoeba.
She said that epidemiological investigation was carried out in each of the cases of amoebic encephalitis.
Amoeba with wild living was found at all water points, especially in contaminated or stagnant water pools, and it is likely that when the water temperature rises, these amoeba also benefits in the water. People entering these watercourses are at risk if water enters their nasal tract.
She said that granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by the ubiquitous wild amoeba, such as acanthamoeba, which can also enter the body through the wounds of the skin or respiratory paths and achieve the brain to cause infection.
Action plan
She said that the medical department formulated an action plan based on one health principle to create awareness of the Amebic meningoencephalitis and involve all local authorities and other departments to clean and maintain water points in the state.
Wells mass chloration started as a main campaign across the state and gave instructions on how swimming pools had to be regularly chlorinated in hotels, centers, clubs and flats, and at the chlorine level that had to be maintained.
She added that the medical department has launched several research studies related to the Meningoencephalitis in cooperation with government medical faculties in the state.
Studies performed
“The microbiological profile of meningoencephalitis as a result of pathogenic free living amoeba: a series of cases” was one such study initiated by Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode Medical College. Kozhikode Medical College also launched a study on the clinical and laboratory profile of people who have infected the infection. “Integration of the epidemiological profile and environmental supervision with genomic sequencing to study cases of améry meningoencephalitis reporting in tertiary care” was another study launched by scientists at Kozhikode Medical College.
The Institute of Advanced Virology and ICMR also conducted studies of genomic sequencing cases of amoebic meningoencephalitis that were molecularly confirmed, Mrs. George said.
Published – September 20, 2025 20:47
