{"id":49534,"date":"2025-06-07T11:06:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T05:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=49534"},"modified":"2025-06-10T10:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T05:13:20","slug":"amoebic-meningoencephalitis-ame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/amoebic-meningoencephalitis-ame\/","title":{"rendered":"Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (AME)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Amoebic Meningoencephalitis Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>The Kerala State Public Health Laboratory, one of the apex referral laboratories in Kerala, recently developed its own molecular diagnostic test kits to identify five common species of free-living amoeba (FLA) which are toxic to humans and which can cause amoebic meningoencephalitis.<\/p>\n<h2>About Amoebic Meningoencephalitis\u00a0<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is an\u00a0<strong>infection of the brain<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0<strong>membranes covering the brain<\/strong>\u00a0(which are called the\u00a0<strong>meninges<\/strong>).\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is\u00a0<strong>caused by free-living amoebae<\/strong>\u00a0(a microscopic single-celled organism)\u00a0<strong>found in water.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>This is a\u00a0<strong>very rare<\/strong>, but serious disease with a\u00a0<strong>mortality rate of more than 95%.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It\u00a0<strong>affects mainly young, active people.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is classified into\u00a0<strong>two main types: Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis (GAE).\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PAM\u00a0<\/strong>is\u00a0<strong>caused by Naegleria fowleri,<\/strong>\u00a0while\u00a0<strong>GAE\u00a0<\/strong>is typically\u00a0<strong>associated with Acanthamoeba species and Balamuthia mandrillaris.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>PAM\u00a0<\/strong>tends to<strong>\u00a0progress rapidl<\/strong>y and is\u00a0<strong>often fatal within a few days,<\/strong>\u00a0whereas\u00a0<strong>GAE develops more slowly<\/strong>\u00a0but is\u00a0<strong>equally deadly\u00a0<\/strong>if not treated promptly.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Amoebic Meningoencephalitis Transmission<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>amoeba\u00a0<\/strong>that causes the infection\u00a0<strong>occurs in shallow surface waters\u00a0<\/strong>and incorrectly maintained\u00a0<strong>swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas, particularly in warm climates.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Swimming in salt water<\/strong>\u00a0has\u00a0<strong>not been associated with this disease.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Infection occurs when infected water enters the nose<\/strong>. This can happen when diving, jumping, or swimming in freshwater.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>amoeba\u00a0<\/strong>then<strong>\u00a0invades the brain and meninges<\/strong>\u00a0through the nose.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Amoebic Meningoencephalitis Symptoms<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>sore throat<\/li>\n<li>headache and pain in the forehead<\/li>\n<li>hallucinations (sensory experiences that are created in the mind)<\/li>\n<li>confusion<\/li>\n<li>nausea and vomiting<\/li>\n<li><strong>high fever<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>neck stiffness and pain<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>disturbances of taste and smell<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>seizures (fits)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Amoebic Meningoencephalitis Treatment<\/h2>\n<p>Swift diagnosis and treatment with specific\u00a0<strong>antibiotics\u00a0<\/strong>may be useful, but\u00a0<strong>recovery is rare.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Amoebic Meningoencephalitis FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1<\/strong>. What is Amoebic Meningoencephalitis?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans<\/strong>. An infection of the brain and meninges caused by amoebae.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2<\/strong>. Which form of Amoebic Meningoencephalitis is caused by\u00a0<i>Naegleria fowleri<\/i>?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans<\/strong>. Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3<\/strong>. What is the mortality rate for Amoebic Meningoencephalitis?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans<\/strong>. More than 95%.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_delhi\/issues\/134703\/OPS\/GVOEFK5QE.1+G77EFM87V.1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (AME) is an infection of the brain and the membranes covering the brain (which are called the meninges)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":49501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[740,21,22,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-49534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-amoebic-meningoencephalitis","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}