Everyone knows it. Zombies are created by brain eating diseases that allowed their body to reanimate even after death. Back in 2014, and now, there have been reports of brain eating bacteria found in North Monroe and Schriever, Louisiana. The bacteria, scientific name: Naegleria Fowleri, is a single-cell organism that can cause a rare, but fatal brain disease. During a routine test, the bacteria has been found in Ouachita Parish’s North Monroe Water System and Terrebonne Parish’s Schriever Water System. THE FATALITY RATE OF THIS DISEASE IS A STUNNING 96 PERCENT The bacteria cause an infection by entering the nose, and traveling up to the brain cells, killing them, leading to a disease known as Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM). Moving on, what exactly is PAM? According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDAC), early symptoms of on-set PAM is similar to bacterial meningitis, which includes a headache, fever, and nausea. The further stages of the disease include stiff neck, seizures, and hallucinations, which then leads to death in most cases. The fatality rate of this disease is a stunning 96 percent, however, only a reported 40 cases happened between 2007 and 2016. However, the CDC stressed that drinking contaminated water cannot lead to the infection - but using it for nasal irrigation or accidentally getting it into your nose can. Out of the 40 cases, only 4 were due to contaminated water. The majority of the infections in the U.S. Was caused by people swimming or diving into warm freshwater bodies, like lakes or rivers. Health officials have assured that water in these affected areas is still safe to drink but to be careful of getting water into one's nostrils. Over the years, there have been cases of death because of this bacteria. One of the most shocking ones was the death of a teenage girl, who went swimming in a lake. Only to pass away a few days later. Since she was one of the rare few cases, and one of the first, doctors were dumbfounded at her death. However, the conclusion reached was that at the point she jumped into the lake, water entered her nostrils and traveled up to her brain, allowing the bacteria to infect her, leading to her tragic death. Louisiana health officials have released a statement on Thursday claiming that they have informed these infected systems to deploy a "60-day free chlorine method", to kill any remaining ameba. Adding on, they advised residents to continue precautions until these systems have been fully cleared of bacteria. Thus, we only have one advice to pass on: Don't snort when you are drinking water and definitely don't go skinny dipping any time soon if you value your own life. If you wish to know more about this terrifying brain-eating bacteria, click this link here:
Symptoms:
Initial symptoms of PAM start about 5 days (range 1 to 7 days) after infection.
Changes in Smell and Taste, or you may seem to have NO smell or taste.
headache, fever, and vomiting.
Stiff neck, confusion and inability to focus.
Loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations. At this point you can't walk or talk much, so you are going to be hospitalized.
Finally, The disease is going to progress rapidly and you will die in about 6 days.
How to Prevent this deadly disease?
Drinking this water is OK, but make sure water doesn't go up your nose.
Use plenty of chlorine in the swimming pool. Or avoid playing in fresh water and go to the beach.
Use nose clips when swimming or diving.
Avoid nose irrigation and religious dip under water.
Don't do submerging tricks and blowing nose bubbles under water.
If you do get into a lake or pond, keep your head above water and don't stir up the sediment at the bottom.
Go to good, standard water parks.
Treatment:
Your chance of survival dramatically increases if you get medical help right away. If you see the symptoms, go to the doctor immediately and tell him that you might have a serious infection. Treatment involves Surgery & Experimental Drug - Impavido. But other than that, no approved effective drugs so far.There are no vaccines either for this disease.The fatality rate is Over 99%, so unless you are very lucky, you won't survive.
Credits:Lukas Magnuson
