In rare recovery, Kerala boy survives amoebic meningoencephalitis which has 97% mortality rate

A highly rare but extremely lethal central nervous system infection, amoebic meningoencephalitis, has been identified as a threat to human health.

Kozhikode (Kerala): Amidst concerns over the outbreak of deadly virus infections like Nipah in Kerala, the state on Monday reported a rare case of recovery from amoebic meningoencephalitis, which has a 97 per cent mortality rate.

State Health Minister Veena George's office on Monday confirmed that it was a rare occurrence, which has a mortality rate of 97 percent and it is believed that only 11 persons in the world so far recovered from the infection. Earlier detection of the infection helped in speedy recovery of the boy. The minister also praise the efforts of the medical team that treated the boy.

Five amoebic meningoencephalitis cases were reported in Kerala in the last two months. Three of them already succumbed to the infection, while another child is still under treatment. Amoebic meningoencephalitis is referred to as brain-eating amoeba. It enters the human body from contaminated water.

The infection in the 14-year-old boy could be detected at the initial stages itself. Miltefosine medicine was also brought for treating the child. The state health department had issued guidelines for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of amoebic meningoencephalitis.

According to an official statement here, when the case was reported, a meeting was convened under the health minister's leadership, and special cautionary instructions were issued.

Health workers at the Primary Health Centre in Melady in this district suspected that the boy's symptoms might be meningoencephalitis and alerted the authorities.

"The boy had an epileptic seizure and was admitted to a private hospital in Kozhikode on the same day. The Health department provided Miltefosine medicine (a broad-spectrum anti-microbial used to treat free-living amoeba infections), and he recovered after three weeks of treatment. Early detection and access to available treatments contributed to his recovery," the statement said.

Following the outbreak of disease, preventive measures were strengthened.

On July 5, a special meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led to instructions for molecular testing facilities to confirm the disease in its early stages.

On May 28, the health minister called a meeting to prepare treatment guidelines under expert leadership, resulting in the release of a treatment protocol for amoebic meningoencephalitis on July 20.

This was the first comprehensive treatment protocol for the disease in the country, the state health department claimed.

With PTI inputs