The woman contracted a fatal infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba and died eight days after developing symptoms.
A Texas woman died from an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba days after she cleaned her sinuses using tap water, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case report.
The woman, an otherwise healthy 71-year-old, developed “severe neurologic symptoms,” including fever, headache and an altered mental status, four days after she filled a nasal irrigation device with tap water from her RV’s water system at a Texas campsite, the CDC report said.
She was treated for primary amebic meningoencephalitis — a brain infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, often referred to as the “brain-eating amoeba.” Despite treatment, the woman experienced seizures and died from the infection eight days after she developed symptoms, the agency said.
She has just been nominated to be RFK jr’s deputy.
Where I live (France) the recommendation is to take lukewarm water, add salt, and that’s it.
Is texas water catastrophically bad or am I totally wrong (or both)?
In the US, the labels suggest using distilled water or to boil tap water.
Some water is great in TX, however this could have been well water that wasn’t treated the same way as a city. Ive also lived on Louisiana, where they would issue boil advisories for tap water because the swamp water could have potentially mixed in with the water going into the treatment facility, increasing the chance of amoeba. It also depends on the pipe system being used. Given how expensive it is, cities don’t regularly change out all the pipes unless there’s a break in the water main and homeowners also don’t normally change out piped until a problem is noticed. If there’s a leaking pipe that you aren’t aware of, there could be contaminants making their way into the cracks.
The article says that this wasn’t just tap water, but tap water from her RV. So if she hadn’t cleaned the pipes or water storage tank in the RV, then the bug that killed her could have been on the RV side and not the tap.
I normally see a couple articles every year about people dying from a brain eating bacteria or amoeba from using tap water in a nasal rinse. It’s just safer to use distilled water, so that you know that nothing is in it.
Same thing in Belgium. ENT confirms that if you are in a normal random city you can use tap water, as-is.
If you are traveling to another country or in a temporary setup then yes take extra precaution, like boiling and/or distilled.
Same thing in Germany. Just checked — no warning anywhere on the packaging and I’ve never heard about anything like this happening.
I don’t know the state of French plumbing, but there’s always the possibility of contamination unless it’s sterilized as it comes out of the tap.
But yes, Texas water probably is pretty bad.
That’s not safe. You should boil the water.
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Most water is from underground aquifers but some cities like Austin use surface water from rivers or lakes. Underground water is naturally filtered, although there are some things that live there like the blind salamander, but surface water has stuff like amoeba. Normal tap water is chlorinated and pressurized but any time there is a power outage the water might have amoebas so they do a boil water notice.
It was from the water tank of an rv.
But also, the quality of water systems in the us are more localized to smaller regional areas and not uniform state wide. Especially not in a large state like texas.
It was from the wster tank of an rv.
Holy hell, yeah I would be cautious to drink it 😬
Every neti pot I’ve ever had recommends either:
A) Warming distilled water and adding salt
Or
B) Boiling filtered tap water, adding salt, and letting it cool down to warm.
What country 😁 ?
US, but I don’t know that should matter. Even in France, water comes from a variety of sources and boiling / using distilled water eliminates risk, no matter how small.
In my family’s commune (France), there’s a lot of calcium in the tap water - such that you could actually feel it on your skin and in your hair after a shower, appliances like the coffee maker got crusty deposits with use. My grandmother only drank bottled water, I wouldn’t put that through my sinuses even if it were boiled.
US, but I don’t know that should matter.
Well that’s precisely the argument that this specific thread is bringing forward.
They are saying the tap water in France, US or another random country is not the same. The regulation around water sources, treatment, urbanism, architecture is different and this has consequences. The regulation around medical devices is also different.
The argument is not trying to say the amoeba gives a shit, rather than instructions on medical devices are country specific because regulations are different.
Well, regulations are important, I wouldn’t drink indian tap water but I’d clean my nasal cavities with swedish tap water without a thought.
It’s probably more to it like how hot it is too. And not letting it sitting around in some plastic container like in the article 😵💫.
On a side note, yeah lots of bottled water here, better than soda I guess. Personlly I have a soda stream machine.
she filled a nasal irrigation device with tap water from her RV’s water system at a Texas campsite
oh, that sounds gross. Way to many points of possible contamination.
This is safe, if you boil the water.
Yeeeeooowch!
Snorfing amoebae up one’s nose turns out to have consequences.
Gotta say, brain-eating amoebas are one of my fears.
Irrational fear is one of the first symptoms
Oh good, this is a very rational fear so we should be safe.
For as much as I despise the pool water that comes out of my tap I can at least feel safe using my neti pot.
pool water or no, it’s safer distilled water.
Thanks, dad.
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To be fair, I made this error before. I was like why do they have those dumbass neti pots when you can just use shower water for free? Then that night I read about brain eating amebas and freaked tf out. In a panic I tried to boil some water to rinse my sinuses with, and since I was so panicked, I didn’t wait long enough to let the water cool completely, and I’m pretty sure I burnt my sinuses and maybe even the part of my brain that’s right there. I had a splitting headache for like a month and thought I was gonna die n had the brain eating ameba. I think in hindsight what’s more likely is my sinuses and everything were burnt and my body was freaking out trying to fix it. 0/10 do not recommend.
Use a neti pot and use boiled or distilled water. Don’t be a dummy like me.
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You just gave me a secondhand headache. Please be careful.
Your Alzhaimer’s chance just increased dramatically.
I’m very aware. It was the dumbest shit I’ve done in my life. It absolutely fucked with my short term memory and even my speech. It’s taken years to feel semi back to normal. I still don’t feel all the way like I used to unfortunately, but I try not to dwell on it.
I know I have an extremely biased experience set having been a health inspector in a place full of RV slums, but I would never trust any portion, interior or exterior, including internal systems, of a used RV.
I won’t even drink the water I put in my RV, even if it’s from my house, let alone shove it up my nose.
This is why I only use river water
An investigation conducted by the agency found that the woman had not recently been exposed to fresh water but had performed the nasal irrigation using non-boiled water from the RV’s potable water faucet “on several occasions” before her illness.
The potable water tank, the investigation found, was filled before the woman bought the RV three months ago and could have contained contaminated water. The investigation also concluded that the municipal water system, which was connected to the potable water system and bypassed the tank, could have caused the contamination.
A bit misleading to put so definitely “tap water” in the headline when this was 3 month old RV water.
It was campsite water actually. If you read closely.
What’s the bit about the municipal water system there for? Aren’t they saying she could have used either
Point is, if you’re gonna flush your nose, boil the water at least. FFS.
That’s a lot of important context
Stop cleaning your sinuses in general, your body creates that mucus for a reason.
It creates mucus to trap germs and other irritants. Nothing wrong with helping your body remove these from your body.
Yeah, you have two methods to deal with the mucus: expectorating or digestion. I prefer to aid the expectoration. I use the NeilMed bottle, works better than any neti pot I tried, thing is a godsend when I need it.
My libertarian uncle swore basically anything could be cured with a neti pot. He forced me to use one when I was having issues with allergies.
It didn’t help one bit and was one of the most uncomfortable experiences in my life. This just turns me off to it even more.
Yeah, you’re not supposed to use it when you’re fully congested because the water will just get trapped and sit.
There’s a bit of a learning curve and people hesitating can end up with the uncomfortable sensation of “water up your nose” but it really is awesome and life changing once you figure it out.
you’re not supposed to use it when you’re fully congested
Yes, ideally you use it BEFORE precisely to prevent this kind of state.
I’ll take your word for it. I’m never doing it again.
most uncomfortable experiences in my life
I’m not a medical doctor… but yeah, a neti pot won’t fix a broken bone. That being said it should NOT be unpleasant at all! You should be able to breath, talk, heck even sing while using it. The water MUST be at exactly the right temperature (if you pour it on the back of your hand, it should not feel warm or cold) and the salt must be precisely the measured amount, not a gram more or less. This way it will not burn your nostril or give you any kind of reaction, just water flowing. If you do this right, which honestly takes a minute more, then it’s not disturbing at all.
I’ll just keep chilling out safely over here on Team Blow Your Nose With A Tissue.
You can use steam to break up mucus, making it easier to use a tissue
The potable water in the Deregulated Texas Oblast is safe. Right? Did she have United Healthcare supplemental insurance?
