Naegleria fowleri claims 9 lives in 6 months

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI - At least nine people – eight male and one female - have, so far, died from brain-eating Naegleria fowleri in Karachi in the first six months of 2015, according to the city’s director (Health), Dr Zafar Ejaz.

He said out of total nine deaths, six were reported from Karachi, two from the interior Sindh and one from Hub.

The last of the total nine victims of Naegleria fowleri was a 23-year-old resident of Umerkot district. He was initially taken to a public sector hospital in Hyderabad, but when his condition deteriorated he was shifted to a private hospital where he breathed his last.

Cautioning that inadequately chlorinated water might trigger Naegleria fowleri, Sindh health department’s focal person, Dr Zafar Mehdi said that Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has been running 155 pumping stations across the city and the water samples collected from them have indicated low level of chlorination in water being supplied to the city.