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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffNaegleria (nay-GLEER-e-uh) infection is a rare and usually fatal condition caused by an amoeba commonly found in freshwater lakes, rivers and hot springs. Exposure occurs during swimming or other water sports.
The amoeba — called Naegleria fowleri — travels up the nose to the brain, where it causes severe damage. Most people who have naegleria infection die within a week.
Millions of people are exposed to the amoeba that causes naegleria infection each year, but only a handful of them ever get sick from it. Health officials don't know why some people develop naegleria infection while others don't.
Treatment with certain drugs may be successful if given early enough in a naegleria infection.
- Fact sheet: Naegleria infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http:www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/naegleria/factsht_naegleria.htm. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Naegleria Workgroup. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis - Arizona, Florida and Texas, 2007. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report. 2008:21;573.
- Solaymani-Mohammadi S, et al. Naegleria fowleri. In: Long SS, et al. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/177544974-4/936603208/1679/273.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06687-0..50272-1_4741. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Weisse ME, et al. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis. In: Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/177544974-4/936603208/1608/712.html#. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Leder K, et al. Free living amebas. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Jan. 8, 2010.
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