Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis causes

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Causes

Naegleria fowleri is commonly referred to as an amoeba but is actually a unicellular parasite that is ubiquitous in soils and warm waters. Infection typically occurs during the summer months and patients typically have a history of exposure to a natural body of water. The organism specifically prefers temperatures above 32 °C, as might be found in a tropical climate or in water heated by geothermal activity. The organism is extremely sensitive to chlorine (<0.5 ppm). Exposure to the organism is extremely common due to its wide distribution in nature, but thus far lacks the ability to infect the body through any method other than direct contact with the olfactory nerve, which is exposed only at the extreme vertical terminus of the paranasal sinuses; the contaminated water must be deeply insufflated into the sinus cavities for transmission to occur.

Michael Beach, a recreational waterborne illness specialist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated in remarks to the Associated Press that the wearing of nose-clips to prevent insufflation of contaminated water would be an effective protection against contracting PAM, noting that "You'd have to have water going way up in your nose to begin with".