A fatal case of Naegleria fowleri meningoencephalitis in Taiwan

Su, M.-Y.^a, Lee, M.-S.^ab, Shyu, L.-Y.^c, Lin, W.-C.^d, Hsiao, P.-C.^e, Wang, C.-P.^ab, Ji, D.-D.^df, Chen, K.-M.^c, Lai, S.-C.^c   

^a  Clinical Laboratory, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan 
^b  Department of Medical laboratory and Biotechnolgy, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 
^c  Department of Parasitology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 
^d  Center for Research and Diagnostics, Centers for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan 
^e  Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan 
^f  Department of Tropical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan 

Abstract

After bathing at a hot spring resort, a 75-year-old man presented to the emergency department because of seizure-like attack with loss of conscious. This is the first case of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) caused by Naegleria fowleri in Taiwan. PAM was diagnosed based on detection of actively motile trophozoites in cerebrospinal fluid using a wet-mount smear and the Liu's stain. The amoebae were further confirmed by PCR and gene sequencing. In spite of administering amphotericin B treatment, the patient died 25 days later. © 2013, Korean Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine.

Author keywords

Amphotericin B; Fatal case; Meningoencephalitis; Naegleria fowleri; Taiwan

Indexed keywords

EMTREE drug terms: amphotericin B; C reactive protein; glucose; nitrogen; protozoal DNA; urea

EMTREE medical terms: aged; article; case report; cause of death; cerebrospinal fluid culture; clinical feature; computer assisted tomography; consciousness disorder; contrast enhancement; controlled study; convulsion; disease severity; fatality; gene sequence; glucose blood level; human; leukocyte count; limb weakness; multiple organ failure; Naegleria fowleri; nonhuman; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; parasite identification; polymerase chain reaction; primary amebic meningoencephalitis; pseudopodium; Taiwan; thermal spring; thrombocyte count; trophozoite

Medline keywords: amphotericin B; fatal case; meningoencephalitis; Naegleria fowleri; Taiwan
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.

MeSH: Aged; Amebiasis; Central Nervous System Protozoal Infections; Cerebrospinal Fluid; DNA, Protozoan; Fatal Outcome; Humans; Male; Microscopy; Naegleria fowleri; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Taiwan
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.

Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers: C reactive protein, 9007-41-4; amphotericin B, 1397-89-3, 30652-87-0; glucose, 50-99-7, 84778-64-3; nitrogen, 7727-37-9; urea, 57-13-6;DNA, Protozoan