Primary amebic meningoencephalitis

Primary amebic meningoencephalitis is a neurological infectious disease caused by the free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri. Acute amebic meningoencephalitis is most commonly seen in children and adolescents who have recently swum in contaminated ponds or swimming pools. After the organism invades the nasal mucosa, it travels along the olfactory nerve through the cribriform plate into the brain, causing inflammation and destruction of the olfactory bulbs and brain tissue. The onset is abrupt, with early symptoms resembling an upper respiratory tract infection, but frontal headache is more severe, followed by meningeal irritation signs such as nuchal rigidity, as well as disturbances in taste, smell, and even vision. The condition rapidly progresses to coma and death. Diagnosis is based on the identification of amebic trophozoites in the cerebrospinal fluid, and treatment with amphotericin B is effective.