A Texas woman died from an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba days after cleaning her sinuses using tap water, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case report .
The woman, an otherwise healthy 71-year-old, developed "severe neurologic symptoms" including fever, headache and an altered mental status four days after she filled a nasal irrigation device with tap water from her RV's water system at a Texas campsite, the CDC report said.
She was treated for primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) — a brain infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, often referred to as the "brain-eating amoeba,"the CDC said. Despite treatment, the woman experienced seizures and died from the infection eight days after she developed symptoms, the agency said.
Lab tests confirm