How to Survive a Brain-Eating Amoeba

3 min read

It’s a single-celled parasite that can enter your body without you realizing it. Then this microscopic beast works its way to your brain, settles in and starts eating until it leaves you comatose.
If this happens, you’re almost guaranteed to die. Sorry about that, buddy. But fortunately for you, we’re here to help.

Naegleria fowleri, better known as the brain-eating amoeba, is a microbe that lives in warmer fresh waters almost everywhere in the world. It can infect humans via the nose when we go for a casual swim. Unfortunately, tap water can also carry these vicious, hungry microbes. Can you get infected by drinking tap water? Can it attack you in a swimming pool? How many people have survived it?

Step 1: Hold your nose

Surprisingly, this silent killer can’t gain access through your mouth or skin. But when it gets into your nose, it bypasses the nasal mucosa, works its way through the base of your skull and attacks your olfactory bulbs. These are part of your central nervous system, a direct pathway to your spinal cord and brain. So, it may be safe to drink tap water, but you need to use nose clips when swimming in fresh water. If you’re worried about swimming pools, well, maybe you should be.

Step 2: Don’t trust swimming pools

I know. Swimming pools are not natural bodies of water, but this killer can also lurk in their bottoms. In 2021, a 3-year-old Texas boy died after visiting a splash pad in Arlington. Bakari Williams developed a fever of nearly 39 ºC (102 °F) and was unable to eat or drink. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later confirmed that the splash pad was contaminated with the amoeba. Proper pool disinfection can kill the microbe, but an investigation revealed the splash pad had incomplete water inspection records. Don’t be overconfident, and wear nose clips anytime you’re out for a swim.

Step 3: Don’t touch the bottom

When Naegleria fowleri isn’t eating your brain, it’s feeding on microscopic organisms, like the bacteria that live in the sediment found in rivers and lakes. Walking in shallow waters in warmer climates or disturbing their bottom will put you in greater danger. Maybe just stay in the boat for now.

Step 4: Don’t skip the doc

Initial symptoms are not extremely worrisome. Headaches, fever and vomiting can be caused by a lot of things, but if you’ve been in fresh water recently, you should go see your doctor and tell them about your weekend dips. There have only been seven reported cases of people surviving a brain-eating amoeba infection. All of them required intensive medical care to control the inflammation of the brain caused by the immune system trying to defend itself from the invader. So don’t be lazy and don’t skip the doc.

Step 5: Plan your trip

Fortunately, this amoeba can’t live in cold water or temperatures above 50 °C (122 °F). Hit the cottage when the water is a little cooler. Or try a saltwater beach, where this microbe doesn’t thrive.