VietNamNet Bridge – A patient from the central province of Phu Yen recently died at the HCM City Tropical Hospital for having parasites in his head, Dr. Dinh Nguyen Huy Man, head of the hospital’s testing ward, told VietNamNet on August 21.

Dr. Man said this was an uncommon case. The patient, Mr. Truong Van D, got a fever and headache. He consulted doctors of the Gia Dinh People’s Hospital in HCM City. Testing his cerebrospinal fluid, doctors discovered amoeba parasites. The man was removed to the HCM City Tropical Hospital for treatment.

At this hospital, doctors tested his cerebrospinal fluid again. They still discovered amoebas in his brain.

“The patient was a pearl diver at a fresh-water lake in Phu Yen. It is highly possible that the germs lived in the water and they moved through the patient to his brain,” Dr. Man said.

The patient’s condition got worse very quickly within 24 hours since he was moved to the HCM City Tropical Hospital. The patient’s family took him home when he was at the point of death. The man died at his home.

Doctors doubted that the patient was infected with Naegleria fowleri, which is also known as "the brain-eating amoeba."

This is a free-living excavate form of protist typically found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is also found in soil, near warm-water discharges of industrial plants, and non-chlorinated swimming pools in an amoeboid or temporary flagellate stage.

N. fowleri can invade and attack the human nervous system. Although this occurs rarely, such an infection nearly always results in the death of the victim. The case fatality rate is estimated at 98%.

Thanh Huyen