# Brain-eating amoeba kills woman via her neti pot.



## Ernest Nagel (Dec 16, 2011)

I don't know if this is exclusive to Louisiana or could happen anywhere.? It would seem to me that water that's safe to drink would be OK for flushing sinuses but apparently not? 

http://germgirl.tumblr.com/post/14315391924/brain-eating-amoeba-kills-woman-via-her-neti-pot-gah

[Brain-eating amoeba kills woman via her neti pot. GAH. (La. Dept of Health)


The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is warning residents about the dangers of the improper use of neti pots. The warning follows the states second death this year caused by Naegleria fowleri, the so-called brain-eating amoeba.

A 51-year-old DeSoto Parish woman died recently after using tap water in a neti pot to irrigate her sinuses and becoming infected with the deadly amoeba.

In June, a 20-year-old St. Bernard Parish man died under the same circumstances.

Naegleria fowleri infects people by entering the body through the nose. A neti pot is commonly used to irrigate sinuses, and looks like a genies lamp.

 If you are irrigating, flushing, or rinsing your sinuses, for example, by using a neti pot, use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution,said Louisiana State Epidemiologist, Dr. Raoult Ratard. Tap water is safe for drinking, but not for irrigating your nose. 

Posted at 1:21pm.


----------



## Ernest Nagel (Dec 16, 2011)

A bit more about this if anyone's curious. The infections do occur far outside Louisiana and while relatively rare are 98% fatal. Why take unnecessary chances?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri


----------



## Fat Brian (Dec 18, 2011)

Oprah strikes again.


----------



## it's only me (Dec 19, 2011)

Fat Brian said:


> Oprah strikes again.



what does oprah have to do with this?, next it'll be the president's fault!


----------



## Fat Brian (Dec 19, 2011)

it's only me said:


> what does oprah have to do with this?, next it'll be the president's fault!



Oprah, along the gremlin Dr.Oz, popularized the use of the neti pot as the latest health craze.


----------



## riplee (Dec 19, 2011)

From what I've read of Naegleria fowleri, instances of infestation are extremely rare though scary as hell. That and it's not actually an amoeba but an amoeba-like creature.


----------



## it's only me (Dec 19, 2011)

Fat Brian said:


> Oprah, along the gremlin Dr.Oz, popularized the use of the neti pot as the latest health craze.



still, what does oprah have to do with it? & now dr oz, what about the millions of others that uses the pot(including my sister) & haven't had problems, from what i read over the summer there has been 2 other people that died( in the south) with similar problems, i think a teen & a young boy, swimming in stagnant lakes.
no offence to anyone & may she rest in peace, but no one forced the lady to use the pot, just like no one is forcing the millions of others to use it, it all boils down to hygiene.

GREMLIN! name callin' is not nice.(lol)


----------



## Mayla (Dec 19, 2011)

From what I understand, it's extremely rare to die from water-borne parasitic organisms, and even more rare for this to happen with a Neti Pot (http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/index.html). Also, you're supposed to use distilled water for the Neti; I think distilled has killed off any possible organisms that may cause problems.

There are far more cases of folks who die from lakes and streams due to these parasites than Neti pots - and since it's a rare occurrence to begin with, I wouldn't worry so much about it. You probably have a greater chance of being struck by lightning five times.


----------



## Fat Brian (Dec 19, 2011)

it's only me said:


> still, what does oprah have to do with it? & now dr oz, what about the millions of others that uses the pot(including my sister) & haven't had problems, from what i read over the summer there has been 2 other people that died( in the south) with similar problems, i think a teen & a young boy, swimming in stagnant lakes.
> no offence to anyone & may she rest in peace, but no one forced the lady to use the pot, just like no one is forcing the millions of others to use it, it all boils down to hygiene.
> 
> GREMLIN! name callin' is not nice.(lol)



Sarcasm!


----------



## it's only me (Dec 19, 2011)

Fat Brian said:


> Sarcasm!



don't be so hard on yourself brian, it's tough sometimes to admit when your wrong.


----------



## knottyknicky (Dec 20, 2011)

The directions specify to use boiled or distilled water. Its not the neti pots fault.


----------



## Miss Vickie (Dec 21, 2011)

I wonder what effect using saline water would have on the potential for infection. It may change the water sufficiently to inhibit the growth of the bacteria. I've heard of people getting that infection from diving into lakes in the southeast. 

I'm a big fan of the SinuRinse product by NeilMed. I recommend distilled water, adding the saline packet and going to town -- gently. It's great stuff. Also, it's important to be gentle when irrigating. The idea isn't to blow out the sinuses, but to gently irrigate them to loosen the debris. 

Neti pots have a long history in the natural health community as a way to promote sinus drainage and treat allergies, nasal inflammation, and congestion more naturally than using medications. I suspect far more people are harmed by use of OTC cold medicine than neti pots.


----------



## moore2me (Dec 22, 2011)

Ms Vickie,

*From what I read, there are no cases of the ameba occuring in salt water lakes or oceans. So, it would follow that using distilled water and adding the saline mix you described would do just fine.*

In science classes, we learned that if you take a living cell and place it in a salt water bath, the cell will leak its fluid into the salt water. This would kill a one celled organism like an ameba. The rule is if a cell has a permeable membrane, the water will move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Salt water (saline) is low concentration, fresh water (even distilled) is high concentration.


I find this neti pot/ameba thingy fascinating. It will be interesting to see what really caused the woman's death. Here are some other possibilities that has been in CDC literature.

1. The tap water was not properly chlorinated. The amebas lived thru the chlorination or were able to get into the water after it was chlorinated and there wasn't enough residual chlorine to kill them.

2. The woman's hot water heater was not hot enough to kill bacteria and the ameba's growth when introducted. The water inside hot water heaters has to be at least 116.6 degree F or 47 degrees Celsius to kill these disease organisms.

3. There is also a slim possiblity that the organism was living in the neti pot between uses. The CDC recommends thoroughly cleaning and rinsing the pot after use with distilled water, making sure the water has been drained and letting the pot air dry (not in a closed box or cabinet) air flow good.

4. If you can't get distilled water, boiled water can be substitued. Boil water for 10 - 15 min.


----------

