Boy, 6, dies from 'brain-eating amoeba' - Social Issues

Updated

September, 19 2012 12:08:20

Boy, 6, dies from 'brain-eating amoeba'

HCM CITY – (VNS) A 6-year-old boy in HCM City's Binh Thanh District has died from a brain eating amoeba virus (Naegleria fowleri), Director of Preventative Health Deparment Nguyen Van Binh affirmed today.

Binh said that a disease sample tested positive for the virus.

This is the second case of a person being infected by the virus. The first patient, a 25-year-old male from the southern province of Phu Yen, died from contracting the virus after swimming in a lake near his house. He was taken to HCM City Tropical Hospital and died on July 31.

According to experts, Naegleria fowleri is a free-living excavate form of protist typically found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. But its capacity to cause disease in humans is rare. It invades the brain through the nostrils.

The Ministry of Health has warned people not to swim in lakes and rivers and limit water flow into their noses. – VNS

Send Us Your Comments:

Name:

Your E-mail address:

Title:

VietNamNews may edit your comments and not all emails will be published.

Hightlight

Tax code reforms to decipher dependents

People who are dependent on personal income tax payers will be given their own tax codes to avoid people lodging claims as dependents of more than one taxpayer.

Farmer-firm linkups remain elusive despite Gov't efforts

More than 10 years after the Government unveiled policies to encourage tie-ups between farmers and businesses, the proportion of farm produce sold through such contracts remains modest.

Buddha statues highlight heritage