Man dies covered in necrotic lesions after amoebas eat him alive
3 hours ago
- #Infectious disease case
- #Acanthamoeba infection
- #Waterborne pathogen
- A 78-year-old man developed severe black lesions and ulcers over six months, leading to facial scabs, eyelid destruction, and a hole between his mouth and nasal cavity.
- Doctors identified Acanthamoeba, a common free-living amoeba found in tap water, as the cause, but diagnosis came too late for effective treatment.
- Acanthamoeba typically causes severe, often fatal infections in immunocompromised individuals (e.g., those with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or on immunosuppressants), but this patient did not fit these risk categories.
- It can cause localized infections like Acanthamoeba keratitis (linked to poor contact lens hygiene) leading to vision loss, brain infections in immunocompromised people, and sinus/wound infections from unboiled tap water.
- Studies have detected Acanthamoeba in over 50% of U.S. tap water samples, highlighting its widespread presence as a rare but dangerous pathogen.