Tap Water Used in Neti Pots Tied to Rare, Fatal Brain Infection
Latest Allergies News THURSDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Two
people in Louisiana died last year from a rare brain infection
contracted after using neti pots containing tap water to flush
their sinuses. The infection, known as primary amebic
meningoencephalitis, occurs after water containing the amoeba
Naegleria fowleri enters the nose and travels through the
olfactory nerve into the brain. This is the first time tap water
and neti pots have been connected to infection with N. fowleri,
according to a report appearing online Aug. 23 in Clinical
Infectious Diseases. Neti pots are small vessels that are filled
with water and saline solution and used to flush the sinuses.
Although the infection is extremely rare, it is almost uniformly
fatal, said Dr. Ann Falsey, a professor of medicine at the
University of Rochester Medical Center, who was not involved
with the study. According to Jonathan Yoder, lead author of the
paper, 123 cases have been repor