Amoebic meningoencephalitis: 14-year-old gets discharged from hospital; first person to recover from disease in India

KOZHIKODE: A 14-year-old boy, who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode for amoebic meningoencephalitis, was discharged from the hospital on Monday after recovering from the disease. The boy was discharged after the PCR test result turned negative. The boy, a native of Thikkoti in Kozhikode, had spent 22 days in the hospital.

Dr. Abdul Rauf, the pediatric consultant at Baby Memorial Hospital, said that the boy would need to take medication for one more week. The boy had received a German-imported medication called miltefosine the other day.

Health Minister Veena George announced that this was the first time in the country that a person suffering from amoebic meningoencephalitis managed to recover from the disease. From 1971 to 2024, only a total of 11 people across the world have survived primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. It is a disease with a 97% mortality rate. The child was admitted to the hospital on July 1. The disease was confirmed on July 5.

Meanwhile, the condition of a three-and-a-half-year-old boy from Kannur, who is suffering from amoebic meningoencephalitis, remains critical. The child is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode.