U.S. NEWS 12/10/2018 07:27 pm ET "The message we want people to hear is that if you use the neti pot, you should not use tap water directly," a CDC expert said. By David Lohr A fatal brain infection reportedly took the life a Seattle woman who doctors believe improperly used a neti pot. The 69-year-old woman, whom health officials are not identifying due to medical privacy regulations, had been suffering from a chronic sinus infection, according to a report published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. In January, she had a seizure and was taken to Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. A scan of the woman’s brain revealed a lesion on the right side. Doctors remove tissue samples and sent them to Johns Hopkins University’s neuropathology department in Baltimore. In the interim, the patient’s health continued to deteriorate, and subsequent scans showed the lesion was growing. “When I operated on this lady, a section of her … [Read more...] about Amoeba From Tap Water in Neti Pot Tied to Fatal Brain Infection In Seattle Woman
Brain infection
Careful use of neti pot advised after woman contracts rare but fatal brain infection
Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE Dec. 7, 2018 / 9:46 PM GMT By Shamard Charles, M.D. A report this week about a Seattle woman who died from a brain-eating amoeba after using a neti pot has users of the nasal irrigation device worried. But doctors say the infection is exceedingly rare, and note that careful use of the neti pot is very important. The 69-year-old woman, who had a chronic sinus infection, used tap water filtered by a Brita water purifier, according to a report published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Fortunately, these amoebic infections are quite rare, but we have documented that some have occurred due to use of tap water in neti pots," Dr. Jennifer Copeland, a medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC News on Friday. "The message we want people to hear is that if you use the neti pot you … [Read more...] about Careful use of neti pot advised after woman contracts rare but fatal brain infection
Young bride-to-be wakes up from coma with entire memory wiped after devastating brain infection
A YOUNG bride-to-be woke up from a coma with no memory of her past life after she contracted a brain infection. Fran Geall, 25, felt like "an entirely different person", unable to recognise her friends and family, as a result of an auto-immune condition encephalitis. The marine biologist, from Falmouth, Cornwall, has also lost all memory of her university degrees which cost her a total of £50,000. Fran told Plymouth Live she can no longer recognise her niece or the family of her fiance, 29-year-old Stacey Tonkins. She said: "With people I'm told I've known for years, it can be like meeting them for the first time, which is really sad. "I also feel like I'm meeting myself again, because I have absolutely no idea who I was before all this was." In March this year Fran began suffering terrible migraines that left her bed-bound. One morning she began having a seizure in bed and Stacey had to call an ambulance to take her to Ashford Hospital, Kent, where she was put into an induced … [Read more...] about Young bride-to-be wakes up from coma with entire memory wiped after devastating brain infection
Bride claims brain infection wiped memory, changed personality
Fran Geall, pictured with her fiance Stacey, had her memory wiped by a rare brain infection. (PA Real Life) A brilliant marine biologist has told how she woke up an "entirely different person" with no memory of her previous life because of a rare condition that causes the body to attack its own brain cells. Fran Geall, 25, from Falmouth, Cornwall, who has a masters degree, was struck down with the auto-immune condition encephalitis, which wiped all recollection of her £50,000 (approx. $66,000) five- year university education. As well as forgetting her time in academia, Geall said she no longer knew some of her closest relatives and friends - including her niece and her partner's family, explaining: "With people I'm told I've known for years, it can be like meeting them for the first time, which is really sad. I also feel like I'm meeting myself again, because I have absolutely no idea who I was before all this was." "People say there's a new Fran, that I'm a … [Read more...] about Bride claims brain infection wiped memory, changed personality
2 New Cases of Brain-Infecting Parasite Include Child Visiting Hawaii From New York, Health Officials Say
An adolescent from New York is one of two new cases of rat lungworm infections, a disease caused by a brain-infecting parasite, in Hawaii, health officials in that state confirm. Health officials said Wednesday the adolescent was visiting the Big Island in January, though didn't identify the child or say where the child lives in New York. The adolescent was hospitalized a month after returning to New York. There was no immediate word on the adolescent's condition Thursday. The other case is a Maui resident. Officials said the Maui resident became ill in mid-February and was briefly hospitalized. The individual was most likely infected on Maui but had a history of traveling to Oahu and the Big Island during the time when the infection might have occurred. These Countries Have the Highest Threat Levels for Traveling The two confirmed cases bring the state's count up to three for 2018. The first case involved an adult West Hawaii resident. Rat lungworm disease is caused by a … [Read more...] about 2 New Cases of Brain-Infecting Parasite Include Child Visiting Hawaii From New York, Health Officials Say