14-year-old boy recovers from amoebic meningoencephalitis in Kerala
Jul 22, 2024
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 22 : In a rare case of recovery, a 14-year-old boy in Kerala who was under treatment for amoebic meningoencephalitis (brain fever) has recovered, said officials.
The child is a native of Kozhikode district in the state.
A person diagnosed with amoebic encephalitis rarely recovers from the disease in the country. Only 11 people in the world have recovered from this disease.
The child was brought back to life from a disease with a 97% mortality rate. Kerala Health Minister Veena George appreciated the entire team for leading the coordination and treatment.
In the event of amoebic meningoencephalitis being reported in the state, the Health Department held a meeting under the leadership of the Minister and issued special precautionary instructions.
Based on that, the health workers at the Meladi Primary Health Centre expressed suspicion that the child's symptoms could be those of brain fever and informed them of the dangers.
On that very day, the child developed epilepsy and was admitted to a private hospital in Kozhikode.
Miltefosine was specially delivered by the health department for the child. He was cured after three weeks of treatment. This was achieved by early detection of the disease and ensuring that the child received all available treatments.
Preventive measures were intensified as soon as amoebic encephalitis was reported in the state.
On July 5, a special meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and in the case of reports of the rare disease amoebic encephalitis, a proposal was given to prepare molecular testing systems to confirm the disease at an early stage in collaboration with the Institute of Advanced Virology.
In a special meeting convened by the Health Minister on May 28, it was decided to prepare treatment guidelines led by experts and according to this, treatment guidelines for amoebic encephalitis were released on July 20.
This is the first time in the country that comprehensive guidelines for amoebic encephalitis have been released.
