Monday, December 19, 2011

Neti Pot Amoeba

I keep seeing various articles like this one about people contracting the Naegleria fowleri amoeba via a neti pot.

First of all, you should never use tap water in a neti pot. I find them to be a high risk item anyway, because they must be properly sterilized to prevent infections of a number of baddies, so I prefer to use a can of sterile saline to ensure my safety. My doctor has said numerous times that neti pots and saline irrigation systems must be sterilized often and you must use distilled water. The packaging also says this.

Second, this amoeba must travel through the sinus cavities. This means it could have been contracted in the shower, bathtub, any number of ways. Usually reports of the amoeba surface after swimming in a freshwater lake.

Finally, how bad is this water treatment facility? The amoeba "isn't supposed to survive" the treatment process. Sure, you can't get it from drinking it, but people regularly interact with water via their nasal passages without any neti usage. I think that the use of a neti pot or similar system is far too beneficial to dismiss or stop doing because of these incidents. If people follow manufacturer (and their physician's) instructions, they wouldn't be using tap water in these things to begin with.

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