Nasal rinse, which is done using a neti pot filled with warm salt water solution, is considered a powerful technique to relieve nasal congestion due to allergies and sinus infections. But improper use of the neti pot could also prove fatal, as has happened with a 20-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman of Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
Both the victims died as a result of infection with Naegleria fowleri, termed the brain-eating ameba, after using tap water in a neti pot to irrigate their sinuses. Naegleria fowleri infects people by entering the body through the nose.
Louisiana State Epidemiologist, Raoult Ratard has advised residents to use only distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution, if they are irrigating, flushing, or rinsing their sinuses.
Tap water is safe for drinking, but not for irrigating nose. It's also important to rinse the irrigation device after each use and leave open to air dry, said Ratard.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, infection with Naegleria fowleri typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places, like lakes and rivers.
After entering a person's body through the nose, Naegleria fowleri, travels to the brain causing a brain infection, dubbed primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, which leads to the destruction of brain tissue. In its early stages, symptoms of PAM may be similar to symptoms of bacterial meningitis.
Naegleria fowleri infections are very rare in the U.S. In the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, the number of infections reported in the U.S. was 32. Of those cases, 30 people were infected by contaminated recreational water and two people were infected by water from a geothermal (naturally hot) drinking water supply, according to the CDC.
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