Talk:Naegleria fowleri
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[edit] Specious Reference to Global Warming
There are no studies that establishes a correlation between global temperatures and the N. fowleri infection rates. This misleading conjecture belies the complex interactions of fresh water eco-systems and human immunology. The citation should be omitted unless or until there are supporting facts. Jasonsadventure 20:12, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
It is true that there is no study showing direct increase in infection and global temperature increase. However it is known that increasing water temperature favors the growth of pathogenic naegleria. Therefore increasing global temperatures -> increasing water temperatures -> increase populations of naegleria fowleri. See the following primary reference:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=1975164
Fritzlaylin (talk) 20:32, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Other means of infection?
Can you get this from other ways than just swimming in an infected lake? Could eating fish from an infected lake spread the naegleria fowleri to the human body and cause the same effects? Gorovich 16:03, 1 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] -
I am uncertain just how much detail is acceptable or desirable. Naegleria spp. typically flagellate when their growth medium is diluted, i.e., they are added to water. The flagellate stage is temporary because it is non-feeding and non-dividing. The flagellate reverts to the amoeboid stage after a few hours. Inducing flagellation by the transfer of amoebae from the seeded non-nutrient agar plates to sterile water is the fastest means to screen for Naegleria. Additional test can then be used to confirm N. fowleri. Incubation of the seeded plates at 35C will help select for N. fowleri by eliminating most amoebaes that cannot grow at that elevated temperature.
Shel 01:03, 28 November 2006 (UTC)Shel
I added a link to a brief description of Primary Amoebic Meningeoncephalitis --User:Tanail March 29th, 2007
[edit] Any control methods?
This is some nasty stuff, and a clear threat to public safety. Does this organism have any natural enemies / competitors / predators that a lake manager or other authority could introduce to control its presence? knoodelhed 05:49, 28 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Cortical Blindness
Cortical blindness is when the patient thinks he can NOT see, but actually has some visual perception left through non-cortical pathways. There is are also forms of "hysterical blindness", where patients imagine they are blind but actually have a physiologically normal visual system.
I suppose there must be cases where patients imagine they can see when they cannot, but that wouldn't be cortical blindness, it would be a delusional state in a blind person.
However, since I haven't seen "House", I can't correct the entry. Maybe someone who has can figure out whether "House" got it doubly wrong, or whether merely this entry got it wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.26.10.162 (talk) 01:13, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Are the numbers reported worldwide or US?
This should be clarified, otherwise it's pointless even stating the numbers —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.234.210.9 (talk) 07:08, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Meningitis
I've noticed a some confusion about the word "meningitis." I would like to humbly offer some clarification and a more detailed explanation of why I made my most recent change to this article.
In the case of the tragic death of Aaron Evans, it has been widely reported that he was "misdiagnosed" with meningitis. Meningitis literally means an inflammation of the meninges, which are the outer three layers of the central nervous system. In the case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM - infection from the N. fowleri amoeba which enters the central nervous system), it is not incorrect to refer to it as "meningitis." When the amoeba enter through the nasal mucosa, they very rapidly cause inflammation, which quickly spreads to the meninges as the amoeba move toward the frontal lobe of the brain.
The confusion about meaning behind the word "meningitis" is understandable. Even in common usage among nonmedical laypersons, we refer to bacterial meningitis and viral meningitis interchangeably as simply "meningitis." In the case of N. fowleri, it is more specifically, amoebic meningitis. It might be helpful if we began attaching the appropriate descriptors before the word "meningitis": bacterial, viral, amoebic and even aseptic. But since that's a lot of specification for a general population that doesn't have a whole lot of practical need for recalling such detail, the next best thing is if we just come to an understanding that the term "meningitis" is something of an umbrella term.
The issue of "misdiagnosis" in the case of Aaron Evans is only with regard to the cause. The diagnosis was accurate, but the etiology/cause was not yet determined, and unfortunately, there was not enough time to determine the true cause before Mr. Evans' had died. However, even with an accurate understanding of the etiology, as this article very nicely articulates, Mr. Evans' prognosis would likely have been bleak. Bitterfly77 06:37, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Not an amoeba
I do not want to sound like some PAME denialist, but technically Naegleria is not a true amoeba but an excavat like euglena, that is more closely related to plants than true amoebas (amoebozoa). "Amoebic" for PAME is a medical term refering to the generic morphology of the parasite. (True amoebic diseases are Amoebiasis, Amoebic dysentery, Extraintestinal Amoebiasis, Amoeba Cutis, liver-colored sputum that are caused by Entamoeba histolytica whick is a true amoeba). Nonetheless it should be a taxonomy section clarifing this.--92.118.191.48 (talk) 14:50, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
"Naegleria fowleri is a free living amoeba..." Maybe that "amoeba" should be changed with "amoeboid"?
