Kerala teen dies of rare brain infection; health officials caution public about bathing in contaminated water

A teenager affected by a rare brain infection caused by free-living amoebae living in contaminated waters died in Kerala's Alappuzha district, state Health Minister Veena George said on Friday.

The 15-year-old native of nearby Panavalli in Alappuzha district was infected with the disease called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.

Confirming the boy's death, the minister said five such cases of the rare infection had been reported in the state before. The first was in 2016, and others later in the years of 2019, 20 and 22, she told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

The main symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures. "All the infected patients had died," George said.

Doctors said the human brain gets infected when the free-living, non-parasitic amoeba bacteria enter the body through the nose.

Considering the severe nature of the disease, the district health officials have advised people to avoid taking baths in contaminated water.