Woman dies from using tap water in a neti pot to irrigate her sinuses.

[Reality Orlando]

Here's a great article about the amoeba and includes info on the Neti Pots.

"Since the creature is so versatile, it can lurk in warm, moist places for extended periods. In the case of the first death from the disease earlier this summer -- a man from Louisiana who used a neti pot -- it's believed the organism was living in his home's water system. The CDC said the investigation into that death is ongoing, but the man may have put the infected tap water into his nose without boiling it first.

Yoder said it is important to follow the directions included with neti pots, which look like teapots and are used to relieve sinus problems. The instructions usually mention that users should put distilled, boiled water in them and not just water right out of the tap.

If users don't follow these instructions, there is a slim chance they too might get the disease caused by Naegleria fowleri, which is called primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or "PAM."

http://news.discovery.com/human/brain-eating-amoeba-110818.html

 

[oh_gal]

I don't know how these things work (athough it seems to me, your options are few!), but don't you run the same risk if you're taking a shower, or bath, and you get water up your nose? Isn't that tap water, too?

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Didn't we have a thread about this earlier this year? There was a man that died the same exact way from using a neti pot with tap. Or am I misremembering? (a word my grandfather would use )

Yes. He was also here in Louisiana.

Walgreens sells the solution for these pots.

No tap water people!!!

 

[stillwatersc]

I would rather risk the infection that give up my neti pot - it helps so much. I will be using previously boiled water from my tea kettle however. But wait for it to cool first!!!

 

[Kimberlyd125]

IIRC there was also a case with the same illness in Tennessee or Kentucky over the summer of a woman swimming or skiing in a lake.

It's about water going up your nose.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

From the CDC:

Naegleria fowleri infects people by entering the body through the nose. This typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places, like lakes and rivers. In very rare instances, Naegleria infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated tap water <47°C) enters the nose. Once the ameba enters the brain, it causes a usually fatal infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/

 

[Quiche]

This freaks me out-- I don't use a Neti pot, but I don't have a blood brain barrier (a case of meningitis or my MS compromised it)! There are plenty of times when I've used tap water to moisten my nostrils (usually when the humidity falls below 20% outside, I just get some water on my finger and kind of sniff it up. Uh, won't be doing that anymore. (I have long since given up swimming in natural waters because of it...)

Ever watched the Animal Planet show, Monsters Inside Me? I recommend it, especially if you're a skeptic about Americans being affected by parasitic predators-- we are not immune, it's nature! Also, it will scare the heck out of ya!

Monsters Inside Me - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Reality Orlando]

A bit off course, but can animals get this as well? How far up into the nose does the water have to go? I have well water and wonder if it's more prevalent there than in treated city water.

 

[Soulmagent]

Couldn't he have just as well got it from dipping his head under the bath water ? Or from shower water entering his nose?

I dont use a neti pot,but I do suffer from irrational fears that are always a unlikey possibilty so ,now that this PAM thing has been reported in swimmers and reported to be in some peoples water supply (this guys) and the swimming in the ponds and those precautions ,why is it okay to bath in?


http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/15/deadly-amoeba-suspected-in-florida-teens-death/

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/08/brain-eating-amoeba-strike---but-should-you-be-scared.html

So this stuff can live in peoples wells ...ugh. I kinda feel like the CDC should be saying a few things. We, as the public might be able to deduct conclusions to this that are a bit more intence then the netti pot issue.

Anyone ever got water in their childs nose while washing their hair?

 

[believe09]

OOps. I do this all of the time.

 

[21merc7]

This freaks me out-- I don't use a Neti pot, but I don't have a blood brain barrier (a case of meningitis or my MS compromised it)! There are plenty of times when I've used tap water to moisten my nostrils (usually when the humidity falls below 20% outside, I just get some water on my finger and kind of sniff it up. Uh, won't be doing that anymore. (I have long since given up swimming in natural waters because of it...)

Ever watched the Animal Planet show, Monsters Inside Me? I recommend it, especially if you're a skeptic about Americans being affected by parasitic predators-- we are not immune, it's nature! Also, it will scare the heck out of ya!

Monsters Inside Me - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eh, not going to watch it. I watched the Lennart Nilsson films, still creeped out about what is on us, on our clothes, sheets, just everywhere. Cool, but creepy. I'll get no sleep tonight.

Now I am terrified of taking a shower or a bath, lol!

 

[TexanMom]

My husband uses a neti-pot all the time with tap water! I can't stand them, I feel like I'm drowning. Now I know why the directions say to use only boiled tap or distilled water.

 

[ohiogirl]

Momtective, thanks for this thread. I hadn't heard about this. My son lives in LA and he hadn't heard about it either. Uses his neti pot all the time.
Thanks again!

 

[gxm]

My husband uses a neti pot daily. I told him to start using distilled water.

One question. It seems to me that the cases in the news are usually in the warmer and southern states. Can the parasite survive in cooler climates?

 

[Nova]

Baby shampoo? Okay I don't feel so bad about the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. Bet that burned like a son of a gun too. :giggle:

It burned some, but I think that's why you use BABY shampoo. it's the kind that's designed not to burn a baby's eyes, so it's effect on mucus membranes isn't so harsh.

Honestly and IIRC, the burning subsided as the sinusitis did, so it may have had nothing to do with the shampoo. And eventually I learned not to choke myself on the water.

 

[HMSHood]

That was EXACTLY the analogy I used when I began to try it, Linda. But six months later (six months that included taking a specific antibiotic), I was finally cured of sinusitis that had plagued me for a decade.

But I need to research this amoeba and see if it can really survive salt, baking soda and baby shampoo...

I have read and research this parasite, Naegleria fowleri. It is actually not an amoeba, but an excavate. The excavate does not survive sea and/or salt water. It only exists in fresh water. It is more likely to infest in stagnant and warm water where is there algae. It mostly affects children after they swim in lakes.

Naegleria fowleri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[HMSHood]

My husband uses a neti pot daily. I told him to start using distilled water.

One question. It seems to me that the cases in the news are usually in the warmer and southern states. Can the parasite survive in cooler climates?

Cooler climate is less favorable for the amoeba, Naegleria fowleri.

 

[Nova]

I have read and research this parasite, Naegleria fowleri. It is actually not an amoeba, but an excavate. The excavate does not survive sea and/or salt water. It only exists in fresh water. It is more likely to infest in stagnant and warm water where is there algae. It mostly affects children after they swim in lakes.

Naegleria fowleri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you. We had a thread here last year about one of the kids who contracted the "excavate" while swimming in warm, fresh water.

I still can't tell whether the mixture of salt, baking soda and baby shampoo I was told to use was enough to kill the damn critter. (Although I live in a desert in Southern California, our water comes from mountain tops and from upstate; it isn't actually all that warm.)

 

[legalmania]

I never tried it and don't think I will start. I have always used a vaporizer, and would just sweat it out.

 

[Reality Orlando]

Update: CDC Issues Warning About Nasal Washes

DENVER (CBS4) &#8211; The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Jewish Health in Colorado both have issued a warning about nasal washes after two people have died from using tap water to do their sinus rinse.

Health experts say it&#8217;s safe to use nasal washes. It&#8217;s not about the rinse, it&#8217;s about the water. They warn that a mixture from a faucet could be fatal.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/02/28/cdc-issues-warning-about-nasal-washes/